Bajaj fires 83 break on way to round three

Mumbai cueist Abhishek Bajaj compiled a tournament-high break of an unfinished 83 in the CCI All India Open Snooker Championship on Friday.

Bajaj easily defeated Sharad Kumar of Delhi 3-1 in a first round match and the notable run came in the fourth frame that he pocketed without conceding a point to wrap up a 69-37, 15-60, 66-7, 83-0 win.

Bajaj's 83 break is currently the highest in the tournament surpassing Vishal Vaya's 76 effort on Thursday.

He was given a fright by 13-year-old city rival Shahyan Razmi before winning 3-2 in a tense and nail-biting second round encounter.

He won 74-18, 30-85(35), 59-43, 10-52, 67-51 to book a place in the third round.

Shahyan's elder brother Rayaan also fell by the wayside, going down tamely to Nashiks Pankaj Khatri 0-3 in another second round contest.

Results (all from Mumbai unless stated otherwise): Round 1: Avinash Kumar (Delhi) beat Chetan Chabbria 3-0 (71-15, 60-11, 69-62); R Santosh Kumar (Karnataka) beat Vaibhav Pandey (Delhi) 3-1 (42-56, 67-7, 83(57)-7, 67-22); Nitesh Madan beat Mukesh Chawla 3-0 (95(45)-1, 77-8, 89(50)-24); Abhishek Bajaj beat Sharad Kumar (Delhi) 3-1 (69-37, 15-60, 66-7, 83(83)-0).

Round 2: Hitesh Kotwani beat Sourabh Ayyagari (Pune) 3-0 (62(43)-15, 73(35)-11, 75-35); Siddhart Tembe (Pune) beat Rohan Shah 3-2 (11-58, 39-62, 63-30, 62-32, 62-31); Mohsin Achhava (Gujarat) beat Anurag Bagri 3-2 (67-29, 52-49, 54-61, 52-63, 54-20); Sumit Saldurkar beat Prashant C 3-1 (70-28, 46-36, 49-74, 47-36); Jaison Malhotra (Delhi) beat Omkar Gore (Raigad) 3-2 (29-59, 19-54, 44-58, 63-17, 64-17).

Kaniskh Janjaria beat Alex Rego (Pune) 3-2 (31-59, 67-69, 62-20, 72-22, 39-1); Abhishek Bajaj beat Shahyan Razmi 3-2 (74-18, 30-85(35), 59-43, 10-52, 67-51(43)); Pankaj Khatri (Nashik) beat Rayaan Razmi 3-0 (61-39, 62-55, 59-54); Anas Ali (Surat) beat Sumair Singapuri 3-1 (55-11, 68-34, 60-62, 71-37); Loukic Pathare (Railways) beat Altamash Saifi (Pune) 3-2 (17-74, 64-36, 56-46, 45-58, 91-0); Rovin DSouza beat Shubhojit Roy 3-2 (36-72, 49-61, 63-27, 69-30, 47-29).

Mayank Bhavsar beat Raajeev Sharma 3-1 (63-22, 34-59, 61-28, 63-28); Maaz Chakkiwala (Surat) beat Kartikeye Sharma 3-2 (32-54, 70-62, 24-58, 62-20, 59-29); Sidraj Shah beat Samar Khandelwal (Pune) 3-2 (49-61, 68-41, 16-77(53), 59-29, 59-22).