Raoof fights back twice to advance

Khizar Raoof of Telangana came from behind to overcome Karnatakas R Santosh Kumar 3-2 in a well-contested second round match in the CCI Open All India Snooker Championship here.

Raoof lost the first two frames but went on to pocket the next three frames to clinch a 9-55, 20-55, 51-41, 63-55 and 67-37 victory.

Raoof then recovered to defeat Avinash Kumar of Delhi 3-1 (41-62, 64-24, 55-17, 78-17) in the next round.

Mumbai's Nitesh Madan and Kanishk Janjaria smoothly progressed to the round of 64 in the Rs 12.9 lakh prize-money tournament played at the Cricket Club of India.

Results (all from Mumbai unless stated otherwise): Round 2: K Srinu (AP) beat Sahil Karnani 3-1 (65-0, 47-57, 58-10, 66(54)-27); Luv Kukreja (Delhi) beat R Loganathan (Tamil Nadu) 3-1 (19-61, 61-54, 58-40, 66-44); Khizar Raoof (Telangana) beat R Santosh Kumar (Karnataka) 3-2 (9-55, 20-55, 51-41, 63-55, 67-37).

Round 3: Kaniskh Janjaria beat Abhishek Bajaj 3-1 (59-27, 62-28, 61-66, 55-39); Asutosh Padhye beat Loukic Pathare (Railways) 3-1 (55-44, 37-54, 57-44, 66-10); Nitesh Madan beat Avenish Shah 3-0 (77-37, 46-26, 67(48)-9); Sumit Saldurkar beat Mohsin Achhava (Gujarat) 3-0 (79-44, 58-26, 84-32); Anand Raghuvanshi beat Anas Ali (Surat) 3-1 ( 84(59)-4, 16-66, 62-55, 47-44); Khizar Raoof (Telangana) beat Avinash Kumar (Delhi) 3-1 (41-62, 64-24, 55-17, 78-17).