Arantxa stuns Rishabh to reach round of 32 at snooker tourney

Pune's Arantxa Sanchis stunned Mumbai's seasoned cueist Rishabh Thakkar 4-3 in the round of 64 matchof the Rs 12.9 lakh prize money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship here Thursday.

The national women's runner-up, a left hander, played confidently and potted consistently against the experienced Thakkar to come out victorious 45-39, 51-60, 61-46, 59-22, 32-75, 28-59, 61-44, winning the final frame on the pink ball.

Maharashtra No. 1 Sparsh Perwani staged a fight back to quell the challenge from Rovin D'souza of Railways, pulling off a 4-2 win to also advance to the round of 32.

Perwani held his nerves to clinch a tense 48-66, 16-65, 50-41, 67-63, 63-54, 58-57 win.

Former national champion Aditya Mehta (ONGC), after a tentative start and the loss of the opening frame, recovered to overcome Faisal Khan of Railways 4-1.

Mehta scripted a 33-58, 67-28, 49-32, 60-22 and 64-17 victory.

Rahul Sachdev, who plays for hosts Cricket Club of India (CCI), cracked the highest tournament break of 106 in the second frame to take a 2-0 lead.

But thereafter he lost his way and suffered a 2-4 defeat at the hands of Asutosh Padhy, also from Mumbai.

Results (Round of 64):Sparsh Perwani (Mumbai) beat Rovin D'souza (Mumbai) 4-2; Mohd Hussain Khan (Rlys) beat Shoaib Khan (Delhi) 4-2; Hasan Badami (Mumbai) beat Taaha Khan (Pune) 4-1; Mukund Bharadia (Mumbai) beat Nitesh Madan (Railways) 4-1; Avinash Kumar (Delhi) beat Nikhil Ootam (Mumbai) 4-0; Aditya Mehta (ONGC) beat Faisal Khan (Rlys) 4-1; Nabil Lakadawala (Mumbai) beat M Yogesh Kumar (Karnataka) 4-3; Asutosh Padhy (Mumbai) beat Rahul Sachdev (Mumbai) 4-2; Himanshu Jain (Telangana) beat Abhishek Ahuja (Delhi) 4-2; Arantxa Sanchis (Pune) beat Rishabh Thakkar (Mumbai) 4-3; E Panduranga (Rlys) beat Shabaaz Khan (Mumbai) 4-2.