Dhruv Sitwalla pulled off a 4-2 upset victory over former World champion Geet Sethi to enter the men's semi-finals, while Maharashtra's Meenal Thakur claimed the women's crown in the National Billiards Championships in Pune on Friday.
Meenal outplayed Anuja Chandra of PSPB 76-59, 17-75, 76-55, 75-55 at the D Y Patil Vidyapeeth.
Earlier, it was a long-drawn battle between Sitwalla of PSPB and Sethi of Gujarat in the men's quarter-finals. The PSPB cueist overcame stiff resistance before stunning Sethi 151-47, 31-151, 43-150, 152(101)-60, 152-73, 151-116 at PYC Hindu Gymkhana.
Meanwhile, defending champion Pankaj Advani, Alok Kumar, and Bhaskar Bhalchandra also made it to the men's semi-finals.
Results:
Men's billiards quarter-finals: Dhruv Sitwalla (PSPB) bt Geet Sethi (Guj) 4-2 [151-47, 31-151, 43-150, 152(101)-60, 152-73, 151-116]; Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Ashok Shadilya (Rly) 4-1 [151-28, 152-73, 150-54, 21-150, 151(147)-0]; Alok Kumar (PSPB) bt Shyam Jagtiani (Rly) 4-0 [152(150)-29, 151(94)-100, 151-70, 150-34]; Bhaskar Bhalchandra (Kar) bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 4-2 [151(81)-21, 150(150)-00, 150(150)-21, 152-102, 150-3, 151-126(124)]
Women's billiards final: Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Anuja Chandra (PSPB) 76-59, 17-75, 76-55, 75-55.
Women's snooker (Group League): Vidya Pillai (TM) bt Aradhana Naik (Kar) 86-21, 56-26; Indira Gowda (Kar) bt Saniya Arif (Ch) 38-22, 48-10; Keerath Bhandaal (Dli) bt Aradhana Naik 26-10, 39-50, 52-51; Priyanka Agarwal (Ori) bt Renu B 42-35, 51-33; Heena K bt Laxmi S 54-9, 54-2; R Umadevi (Kar) bt Shreya Kothari 45-11, 88-28; Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Shilpa Shanthappa 65-37, 51-13; Anuja Chandra (PSPB) bt I Laheri (AP) 67-8, 73-2; Priyanka Agrwal (Ori) bt Chitra Mangimairaj (Kar) 51-46, 63-41.
Men's snooker qualifying round: Pulkit Thukral bt Arbaz Khan 60-23, 97-19, 64-21; Akshay Kumar bt Chintamani S 54-13, 58-25, 62-18; Vishal Agarwal bt Shekhar Salunkhe 49-60, 55-21, 86-1, 66-11; Raj Khandwalla bt Bhupesh Thakur 79-47, 32-52, 55-39, 43-36.
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