Devendra Joshi shocked in All India 9-Ball Pool meet

Mumbai, Nov 1 (UNI) India star Devendra Joshi of PSCB squandered a 4-1 advantage and made a premature exit in the second round of the BSAM-organised All India 9-Ball Pool at the Islam Gymkhana today.

Going into his match with a big reputation, Joshi raced to a comfortable lead against Rajit Mehta of North India Association. But, Mehta ignored his opponent's star status to get back into the match before fashioning a pulsating 5-4 win.

In contrast, another India star Dhruv Sitwala of PSCB, ended Kunal Agashe's winning streak with a convincing 5-1 win to storm into the pre-quarter-finals.

Joining Sitwala in the last 16 were elite players Rafath Habib of Railways and Bombay boys Siddharth Parikh, Rishabh Thakkar and Chandu Shah, who registered contrasting third round wins.

Results (3rd round): Siddharth Parikh bt Derek Sippy 5-1; Rafath Habib (Rlys) bt Mrinal Modak 5-4; Rishabh Thakkar bt Kamal Amrit (Del) 5-1; Dhruv Sitwala bt Kunal Agashe 5-1; Chandu Shah bt Aditya Agarwal 5-4. 2nd round: Derek Sippy bt Suniti Damani (Kolkata) 5-4; Rajit Mehta bt Devendra Joshi 5-4.

UNI GS MAZ AY BST2039