Ankit wins thriller to enter semis of Mah State Selection tourney

Mumbai, Nov 21 (UNI) Ankit Thakkar pipped S Sogani in the last 30 seconds to storm into the sub-junior billiards semi-finals in the Malabar Hill Club Maharashtra State Selection Billiards&Snooker Tournament at the Malabar Hill Club today.

Thakkar endured dogged resistance from a determined Sogani, who levelled at 117-117 in the 45-minute time-format contest. But Sogani missed a red in-off in the last half minute before Thakkar returned to pot the white to snatch a 119-117 win in a pulsating quarter-final tie.

Thakkar's thrilling win overshadowed the efforts of Nagpur's Shravan Mohta and Bombay boys Aditya Agrawal, Reza Merchant and Rovin D'Souza who also sailed into the semi-finals.

While D'Souza will feature in the sub-junior snooker semi-finals, the trio of Mohta, Agrawal and Merchant will feature in the snooker and billards semi-finals.

Results: Sub-junior billiards (QF): Aditya Agrawal bt Afshaad 196-93; Ankit Thakkar bt S. Sogani 119-117; Reza Merchant bt K. Talib 170-175; Shravan Mohta (Nagpur) bt Nishit Chandran 226-98.

Sub Jr Snooker (QF): Rovin D'Souza bt K. Akshat 63-20, 77-32; Aditya Agrawal bt K Chugh 60-51, 63-19; Shravan Mohta (Nagpur) bt Dhanraj Minawala 68-23, 66-24; Reza Merchant bt Raj Khandwala 68-34, 62-48.

Jr Billiards (1st rd): N Badami bt Aparajit Mittal 186-137; Rovin D'Souza bt N Chowgule 213-125; K Akshat bt Nikhil Ghadge 148-112.

Jr Snooker (1st rd): R Narang bt Abhiraj M 30-59, 83-27, 52-32; K Akshat bt C Sampat 49-39, 18-56, 55-45; Karan Anand bt Mudit Loyalka 64-27, 55-24; Rovin D'Souza bt K Raghad 62-27, 80-26.

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