Jumani, Aga claim victory in opening round of billiards meet

MUMBAI: Xerxes Aga of Wodehouse Gymkhana and Anees Jumani of Radio Club registered narrow 3-2 wins in the opening round of the O.B. Agrawal Billiards & Snooker Promotional Series, organized by CueCircuit, at the Radio Club on Tuesday. On a day of close encounters, Aga overcame Viraj Joshi of Don Bosco 20-63, 61-59, 52-44, 52-65, 58-18. Aga ignored the loss of the opening frame in the best-of-five snooker contest and led 2-1.
Aga was set to snatch the crucial fourth frame when he missed a sitter blue that allowed Joshi to force the decider.
In another thrilling encounter, Anees Jumani of Radio Club rallied from a 1-2 deficit to beat Dinesh Dodia of Elphinstone Cricket Club 48-27, 59-60, 40-68, 58-33, 89-27. Jumani got off to a good start after winning the opening frame but fell back after dropping the second on the black. He made amends by winning the fourth frame and fired a significant break of 39 in the decider to seal the issue.
Results: Snooker 1st Rd: Rahul Bhatnagar (Radio Club) bt Neeta Sanghvi (CCI) 70-46, 53-17, 65-38; Sunil Jain (MCA) bt Samay Wadhwan (PJ Hindu Gym) 70-43, 42-54, 61-16, 71-41; Raj Khandwala (CCI) bt Zulfikar Saria (CCI) 49-23, 50-44, 50-36; Anees Jumani (Radio Club) bt Dinesh Dodia (Elphinstone CC) 48-27, 59-60, 40-68, 58-33, 89(39)-27. Subhash Jog (Elphinstone CC) bt Mufaddal Lakdawala (Radio Club) 57-6, 50-21, 54-66, 52-23; Prathamesh Sawant (Thane) bt Rajesh Bhatija (Radio Club) 54-29, 61-13, 55-38; Siddharth Shah (Elphinstone CC) bt Avenish Shah (MCF) 62-28, 3-36, 56-31, 57-21; Rohinton Daruwala (Dadar Parsee Colony Gym) bt Gaurav Bhatia (Radio Club) 62-52, 77-41, 57-76, 53-17; Arantxa Sanchis (MCF) bt Rishad Bharda (Elphinstone CC) 55-7, 69-28, 65-25; Anuj Mahajan (Radio Club) bt Neville Razmi (Radio Club) 64-21, 59-36, 56-28; Xerxes Aga (Wodehouse Gym) bt Viraj Joshi (Don Bosco) 20-63, 61-59, 52-44, 52-65, 58-18; Sahil Khan (Islam Gym) bt Manjit Singh Bhomer (North Indian Assn) 56-25, 46-35, 58-47; Rahul Narang (Shivaji Park Gym) bt Amit Paradkar (Thane SC) 62-10, 68-20, 32-46, 42-51, 63-10; Ibrahim Shaikh (MCF) bt Parag Paithankar (Santacruz Gym) 39-70, 55-10, 60-22, 59-29.
Jain star for Pramerica: V Jain's (35 & 2-23) fine all-round performance helped Pramerica defeat Morgan Stanley by 20 runs in the Champions cup knockout category of the Edelweiss Corporate Cricket 7's at the Western Railway Stadium.
Batting first, Pramerica hit 99 for one in their seven overs with Jain getting good support from Anurag S, who scored 30 runs. In reply, Morgan Stanley managed to get only 77 runs for the loss of two wickets in their quota. In the other match of the same category, Cap Gemini beat Rhodia by 8 wickets.
Brief scores: Champions Cup Knockout: Pramerica 99 for 1 (V Jain 35 retd, Anurag 30 retd; C Rawal 1 for 16) bt Morgan Stanley 79 for 3 (J Ullal 34 retd, C Rawal 27; V Jain 2 for 23); Rhodia 73 for 6 (R Chandani 26, Kunal 8*; Girish 2 for 5) lost to Cap Gemini 77 for 2 (Girijesh 22*, T Bhakre 21; Kunal 1 for 19).
Salver Knockout: SBI Caps - 2, 69 for 5 (Dhyanesh 30 retd, Prakalp 21*; Samit 2 for 24) bt BMR Advisors, 57 for 3 (Saurav 20; Ankit 2 for 6); Ericsson, 92 for 4 (A Dewelkar 30 retd, K Kishore 29; Avinash G 2 for 22) bt Elder Pharma, 93 for 1 (A Sawant 33 retd, S Baharuni 29*; Arun 1 for 9); Hindustan Unilever, 106 for 3 (D Panchal 32 retd, M Fernandes 35 retd; Ram 1 for 12) bt Barclays, 71 all out (Anil 26, Ruzbeh 22; Bhupesh 3 for 9).
Bipin Memorial camps kickof f: The 24th free football coaching camp for boys and girls under-16 conducted by Bipin Memorial Football Association (BMFA) was inaugurated at the Dahisar Sports Foundation ground by former Maharashtra player and coach of Union Bank, Julian D'Silva.
Around 400 young trainees turned up at the camp to hone their football skills under the watchful eyes of some of the city's best coaches.
SAI camps from April 15: The Sports Authority of India will be conducting programmes in various disciplines (athletics, archery, judo, boxing, kabaddi, karate, tennis, table tennis, yoga, basketball, football, cricket, marshal arts, taekwondo, handball) at their facility in Kandivali from April 15 to May 10. Interested participants can contact the SAI office at 28876059/28858395/8080572733.
Other significant first round winners were, Rohinton Daruwala of Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana, Arantxa Sanchis of Mandpeshwar Civic Federation, Sahil Khan of Islam Gymkhana and Anuj Mahajan and Rahul Bhatnagar of Radio Club.
Speaking on the occasion, D'Silva reminded the youngsters of India midfielder Steven Dias, a product of the Bipin Memorial Camp, and exhorted them to emulate Dias' example. Bharat Vasani, Treasurer of Dahisar Sports Foundation, lauded the efforts of BMFA and assured complete support for the Dahisar camp.
The training camp shall also commence at four other centers across the city. Aspiring trainees may contact the respective Camp Directors:
Dahisar Sports Foundation: Dilip Mambre 9323647582; Kalyan Century Rayon: Abdul Siddique 9892120367; Don Bosco Naigaon Vasai: Rudolf D'Cunha 9226982035; Churchgate Bombay School Ground: Diago D'Souza 9987801541; Churchgate Slum: Bombay School Ground: Vijay Dange 9167060474.