Tigers and RK's 7, The Rakish Kings registered exciting 3-2 wins on another day of big breaks, in the inaugural Videocon Billiards Premier League, organized by the Billiards & Snooker Association of Maharashtra, at the NSCI today.
Twice in arrears, Tigers captain and man-in-form Nalin Patel fired a decisive break of 135 against Aditya Agrawal, who also hit 101 in his opening tie against Mahesh Jagdale, to pip Scorpions in a nail-biter.
In another close encounter, Rakish Kings, who led 2-0, endured a late challenge against Race for Gold, The Team who forced the contest into the decider through World Team Championship gold medallist Devendra Joshi before Rishabh Kumar beat Rohan Jambusaria in the fifth and final tie.
World Team Championship silver medallist Dhruv Sitwala lit up the evening with a delightful break of 154, the highest in the tournament so far, as he survived a strong challenge from Vishal Gehani in the fifth tie to lead MB's Shooters to an impressive 4-1 win over SP Young Guns.
RRockets were the solitary team who registered a 5-0 win over SPG Billiards Punters, as Manav Panchal shocked World Team Championship gold medallist Ashok Shandilya and Australian Open bronze medallist Siddharth Parikh hit impressive breaks of 98, 91 and an unfinished 93.
State junior champion Jaiveer Dhingra fired a brilliant 131 break to lead WJ Genii to a 4-1 win over SK's Kannon Masters whose junior national champion Dhwaj Haria hit 105.
MB's Shooters and WJ Genii enhanced their tally to 19 points to lead the table, followed by Tigers (16), SP Young Guns and RRockets (14), Rakish Kings (13), Race for Gold (11), Kannon Masters (9) and Scorpions (5).
Results: MB's Shooters bt SP Young Guns 4-1; RRockets bt SPG Billiards Punters 5-0; RK's 7, The Rakish Kings bt Race for Gold, The Team 3-2; Tigers bt Scorpions 3-2; WJ Genii bt SK's Kannon Masters 4-1.
