Haria, Sitwala show impressive form

Young Dhvaj Haria showed good cue touch in constructing an unfinished break of 176 for RRockets, who recovered after dropping the first frame to overcome Siddhant Strikers 3-1 in the round-robin league match of the 2nd Videocon-Billiards Premier League (BPL) here.
The 21-year-old lanky Gujarat player, playing to a handicap of -190 against 25-year-old Aditya Agrawal (-170), played some fine canons and hazards in his big break to win the fourth frame and close out the second win for his team.
Earlier, RRockets' pair of veteran Subhash Agrawal and Satbir Narula (-75) failed to get going against Strikers' combo of Aditya Agrawal and Rajwardhan Joshi (-100) and conceded a 150-200 defeat in the first frame.

Manav Panchal (-60) repaired the damage when he beat Loukic Pathare (-50) 160-127 in the second before the experienced Sarang Shroff (-130) outwitted Arun Agrawal (-190) 230-107 in the third frame to give RRockets a 2-1 cushion.
Current Asian champion Dhruv Sitwala carved out a magnificent match-winning performance to help Ottomans secure a tight 3-2 win against Adamo Potters.
The left-handed Sitwala (-240 handicap) came from behind to put it across Siddharth Parikh, playing with the same handicap, in the crucial fifth frame.

Sitwala trailed 9-126 as Parikh opened with a 63 break to gain the initiative. Sitwala found his touch on his 6th visit and ran up a judicious 187 break, the second highest after Parikh's 189, which helped him wrest the advantage.

Thereafter, he maintained the momentum and went on to win the decisive 5th frame 340-163 and wrap up the tie for Ottomans. This was Sitwala's third century effort after he made 147 and 125 in the first and second rounds, respectively.
Earlier, Sitwala provided Ottomans with the perfect start by defeating Hitesh Kotwani (-130) 34-204 in the first frame before his teammate Amit Sapru (-60) won the second against Parikh to give them a 2-0 buffer. However, Ottomans lost the next two frames.
Former Asian Games gold medallist Ashok Shandilya led Mumbai Stars to their third straight win as they blanked SPG Billiardiers 3-0 in another third round match.