Impressive Habib cruises to two wins

Former Asian Games gold medalist Rafat Habib of Railways registered two successive wins in Group-D of the MIG Cricket Club-organised third Master's National Snooker Championship here on Sunday.

First Habib warmed up nicely as he played steadily to defeat Maharashtra's Amit Sapru 3-1 (57-37, 58-18, 13-46 and 77-10).

Then Habib produced some impressive performances as he constructed three substantial breaks of 77 (1st frame), 55 (3rd frame) and 45 (4th frame) as he went on to record a 3-1 win against Maharashtra's Sanjiv Shah.

Meanwhile, Karnataka's D Rajkumar started with a flourish by convincingly winning both his matches in Group-E.

The Karnataka cueist blanked Shekhar Surve of Railways 3-0 (86-59, 87-17 and 86-01) and then halted the fine run of Goa's Samar Khandelwal by recording a fluent 3-0 (85-43, 62- 08, 64-03) victory.

Both Rajkumar and Khandelwal (two wins, one loss) are in contention of qualifying for the knockout rounds from this group.

Anuj Upal of Delhi and Rafat Habib of Railways launched the campaign on a winning track.

Upal defeated Maharashtra's Bapu Gaikwad 3-0 (76-16, 75-19 and 92-08) in a Group-C match, while in Group-D encounter, Habib prevailed over Maharashtra's Amit Sapru 3-1 (57-37, 58-18, 13-46 and 77-10).