Bengaluru Buddies, Delhi Dons notch wins in Indian Cue Masters League - Hindustan Times
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Bengaluru Buddies, Delhi Dons notch wins in Indian Cue Masters League

Hindustan Times, Ahmedabad | By
Aug 21, 2017 11:16 PM IST

Bengaluru Buddies and Delhi Dons earned contrasting victories in the Indian Cue Masters League on Monday.

Bengaluru Buddies came from behind to shock Chennai Strikers while Delhi Dons raced away to victory in the Indian Cue Masters League in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Pankaj Advani-led Chennai Strikers lost in the Indian Cue Masters League on Monday.(PTI)
Pankaj Advani-led Chennai Strikers lost in the Indian Cue Masters League on Monday.(PTI)

The Strikers were sitting pretty at 2-1 after Bengaluru-based Vidya Pillai notched two points for her team, pairing up first with Pankaj Advani to win the mixed doubles snooker match and then with Pandurangaiah from Nellore to win the mixed doubles pool match as well.

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But in a dramatic Icon match, Darren Morgan of Wales stunned Pankaj with just a few seconds to make it 2-all. In the decider, the snooker singles shootout, Laxman Rawat cruised to a 42-0 victory against Dharmender Lilly to clinch the tie for the Buddies.

READ | Chennai Strikers, Hyderabad Hustlers win in Indian Cue Masters League

In the second tie, Amir Sarkhosh of Iran put the Hyderabad Hustlers ahead by winning the 9-ball pool game in straight frames. But Kelly Fisher of Britain and Malkeet Singh pulled the Delhi Dons back by beating Madhya Pradesh pair of Kamal Chawla and Amee Kamani in mixed doubles snooker.

Laura Evans and Malkeet Singh then beat Anuj Uppal and Amee Kamani to make it 2-1 in favour of the Dons. Kelly Fisher wrapped up the tie by getting the better of Amir Sarkhosh in the Icon game.

Kamal Chawla lost out to Manan Chandra of the Dons by a huge margin to add to the woes of Hyderabad Hustlers.

Earlier, the Buddies got off to a winning start with Sundeep Gulati trouncing veteran Dharmender Lilly in straight frames in the 9-ball pool contest.

The mixed doubles encounter, thereafter, was a game of patience and nerves, with both teams opting to play safe. Pankaj Advani and Vidya Pillai kept Darren Morgan (Wales) and Anastasia Nechaeva (Russia) on their toes, running neck-and-neck till 9-9.

READ | Pankaj Advani’s Chennai Strikers stunned in Indian Cue Masters League opener

At that point, Morgan whipped out a perfect snook to create a nice opening for his partner. They notched 10 points to win the frame 19-7.

The second frame too was all about skill and strategy. The scorecard moved slowly as both pairs had to be content with the reds. But Pankaj pulled off a brown to take a slender 10-8 lead. It was enough to fetch the Strikers the frame and take the game to the decider.

Pankaj and Vidya again jumped to a 9-1 lead to put pressure on the Bengaluru Buddies duo. They consolidated it to 18-2 to comfortably win the frame 22-5 and the crucial second point for their team.

Pandurangaih paired up with the in-form Pillai to brush aside the Buddies’ challenge (Sundeep Gulati and Anastasia) in straight games to take a 2-1 lead for the Strikers.

READ | Indian Cue Masters League launched, 25 stars picked during players’ draft

In the Icon clash, Pankaj began by clearing out 5 reds and racking up 30 straight points to win the first frame 41-10. He fell behind in the second frame as Morgan raced away to a 29-6 lead.

But with just two minutes left, Pankaj went on a rampage to narrow the lead down to 29-23. With just 15 seconds left, however, he missed the last ball on the table to lose it in dramatic fashion.

In the decider too, Morgan jumped to a 15-9 lead. With just a little over two minutes left, Pankaj made it 18-15 but couldn’t put away the pink. Morgan pounced on it to regain the lead and win the frame and the point.

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