The morning session of Matunga Gymkhana presents MG 6 Red Open Snooker Tournament on 24th February was highlighted by Wellingdon Catholic Gymkhana’s Shakir Qureshi with a nail biting 3-2 victory over Pune’s Ashwin Palnitkar.
Quickly entering into a 2 frame lead in the best of 5 tie, Shakir was shaken by Ashwin’s comeback to take the match to the decider. These four frames were quick with the first two frames inclined towards Shakir’s dominance on the table while the third and the fourth were all about Palnitkar’s come back and timely struck form.
Shakir, taken aback with Ashwin’s ressurgence, almost saw his exit from the tournament as trailed by 20 points on the green when Ashwin missed a relatively difficult green ball pot.
With no other option but to clear the table Shakir converted his chances into crucial pots to reduce the deficit which came down to the final black of the game.
Enroute the clearance, Shakir became a victim of a kick on the pink and was forced with an only option of playing a black ball safety shot. However, the young cueist stunned his opponent and the spectators with a remarkable but risky attempt on the black which earned him the victory.
A double shot or a bank shot into the green pocket on the black from the baulkline which was settled just above the black cushion and the black found its path rocketing towards the pocket to get him a daredevil win in this roller coaster match.
