Aditya, Pankaj off to fliers

At the KSBA Hall on Tuesday, the promising Mehta rallied from a two-frame deficit to put it past Sourav Kothari 4-2, then cruised to a 4-0 rout of Brijesh Damani. Advani had identical 4-1 wins over Kamal Chawla and Shabaaz Adil Khan, while Manan Chandra won his only match of the day, against Adil Khan, by a 4-1 margin.

The Mehta-Kothari affair was a fascinating contest that appeared headed the latter’s way when, aided by a break of 85 in the second, Kothari opened up a 2-0 advantage. Mehta, based in the United Kingdom, wended his way back into the match with small but useful breaks, and pulled even at 2-2. A break of 73 on his third visit in the fifth frame allowed Mehta to snatch the lead for the first time, and he went on to round off a 36-65, 10-85 (85), 69-39, 46 (21)-14, 104 (73)-64, 42-23 victory.

DH News Service

Results: Manan Chandra bt Shahbaaz Adil Khan 4-1 (79-19, 69-20, 31-56, 75 (38)-23, 73 (36)-21); Aditya Mehta bt Sourav Kothari 4-2 (36-65, 10-85 (85), 69-39, 46 (21)-14, 104 (73)-64, 42-23); Pankaj Advani bt Kamal Chawla 4-1 (69-9, 81-22, 70-30, 39-82, 69-68); A Mehta bt Brijesh Damani 4-0 (65-40, 67-43, 79-26, 63-37); P Advani bt S Adil Khan 4-1 (92 (63)-35, 16-66 (28, 28), 70 (49)-38, 59-15, 92 (22, 22, 20)-23); K Chawla bt S Kothari 4-3 (40-74, 69-49, 86-6, 54-55, 65-37, 53-57, 66-35).