Centuries galore in Matrix snooker

CHENNAI - It rained centuries in the VIP Matrix All-India Invitational snooker tournament here Tuesday with five breaks over the 100-mark being made.

First up was India No.2 Sourav Kothari who showcased his pedigree with a fluent 4-1 win over Kamal Chawla while posting a break of 112 to enter the quarter-finals. He next meets Chennai veteran Rafath Habib who in turn notched a 113 and a 75 to upstage former National champion Alok Kumar 4-2.

Later, Rupesh Shah from Ahmedabad made breaks of 100 and 102 but yet lost 2-4 to Chennai veteran SA Saleem who seems to have rediscovered the kind of touch that had once made him a top-four player in the country. Saleem meets Aditya Mehta of Mumbai who cracked a 117 while routing qualifier Sridhar of Andhra Pradesh 4-0.

Kothari , the 25-year old from Kolkata and son of former world billiards champion Manoj Kothari, constructed a break of 112 while vanquishing Chawla who himself had made a run of 136 in the previous match and looked to be in ominous touch.

Kothari, who had lost his opening league match to a qualifier, played consistent snooker and took a 3-0 lead on a break of 56 in the second. However, 30-year old Chawla from Bhopal, a quarter-finalist at the last month’s World championship in Hyderabad, claimed the fourth to reduce the leeway before Kothari came back strongly in the fifth during which he posted the century for the match.

“I am happy to be playing at best after the shock defeat in the league. Today, I came up with consistent breaks and rounded off with the 112. It was not a very difficult break as the reds were available around the pink and black. Kamal gave me an opening early in the frame and I cleared up to the black that I missed from the spot,” said Kothari.

Earlier, top seed and National champion Pankaj Advani was stretched before advancing to the quarter-finals with a 4-3 decision against his close friend Manan Chandra who led 2-1 and 3-2 with breaks of 49 and 73, but could not finish off his opponent.

Up next for Advani, the 24-year old from Bangalore, is qualifier Sandeep Gulati of Delhi who is in the midst of a dream run after scalping veteran Devendra Joshi 4-1 in the pre-quarter-finals.

Later, qualifier J. Varun Kumar of Chennai ousted Bangalore’s IH Manudev 4-1 to set up a quarter-final meeting with winner of the Geet Sethi vs Prem Prakash match.

The results (pre-quarter-finals):

Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) 4-3; Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Kamal Chawla (Railways) 4-1; Sandeep Gultai (Delhi) bt Devendra Joshi (PSPB) 4-1; Rafath Habib (Railways) bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 4-2; J. Varun Kumar (Tamil Nadu) bt IH Manudev (Karnataka) 4-1; SA Saleem (Tamil Nadu) bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 4-2; Geet Sethi (Gujarat) bt Prem Prakash (Tamil Nadu) 4-0; Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Sridhar (Andhra Pradesh) 4-0.