BANGALORE: There were a couple of stunning results as the main draw of the 73rd senior National snooker championship, sponsored by Jain Heights, got underway at the McDowell Hall of the KSBA here on Saturday.

S.A. Saleem of Tamil Nadu stunned a much higher ranked Devendra Joshi of PSPB 65-38, 84-23, 59-23 Another big name to get a jolt in the league phase was Punjab's Dharminder Lilly who was made to bite the dust against Karnataka's D. Raj Kumar. Raj Kumar, who is a dangerous customer on his day, humbled Lilly 70-34, 1-82, 71-29, 54-51.

Later in the day Rafath Habib of Railways, doubles gold medallist at the Busan Asian Games, was swept aside by K. Someshwar Rao of AP in straight frames while former champion Alok Kumar was down by two frames before eking out a 3-2 verdict against Karan Anand of Maharashtra.

Rishab beats Shravan

Young Shravan Mohta's good run, having upset the top-ranked Ajay Bhushan of Karnataka in a crucial match late on Friday night to qualify for the semifinal league in the junior snooker, came to a screeching halt.

Shravan from Maharashtra, seemed to run out of ideas and his potting suddenly seemed to desert him as the burly Rishab Pandya, who too came through the qualifying rounds, posted a 32-68, 61-45, 41-49, 69-9, 34-57, 67-31, 63-62 win.

Shravan then turned up for his senior snooker main draw league match against Neeraj Kumar of Bihar and there too came a cropper, though again in the deciding frame. Neeraj won 46-17, 2-56, 74-30, 31-51, 69-23.

The results: Senior snooker: Main draw: Aditya Mehta (Mah) bt M.S. Arun (Kar) 60-13, 47-75, 70-33, 66-56; S. Mumtaz Ali (Jhar) bt Kamal Chawla (Rlys) 40-68, 49-16, 55-54, 42-32; Aditya Goenka (WB) bt Sohail Jairaj (Kar) 42-38, 47-10, 37-71, 14-70, 72-61; Duncan Mackenzie (Kar) bt Girish (TN) 36-78, 50-57, 61-32, 74-16, 73-24; Rupesh Shah (Guj) bt Antim Singhi (TN) 51-31, 60-27, 75-09; Neeraj Khemka (WB) w/o Sumeet Talwar (Chand); Prem Prakash (TN) bt Siddharth Anand (Del) 33-56, 72-48, 49-5, 61-69, 54-16; Kanishk Jhanjariya (MP) bt M. Arun (Raj) 51-29, 74-46, 35-57, 66-35; Neeraj Kumar (Bhi) bt Shravan Mohta (Mah) 46-17, 2-56, 74-30, 31-51, 69-23; Kamal Rohmetra (JK) bt Sandeep Singh (MP) 69-23, 54-24, 52-44; D. Raj Kumar (Kar) bt Dharminder Lilly (Pun) 70-34, 1-82, 71-29, 54-51; B. Bhaskar (Kar) bt Abhishek Raj (UP) 56-8, 76-31, 75-9; Shyam Jagtiani (Rly) bt Siddharth Rao (TN) 51-43, 12-68, 86-8, 78-25; Ashok Shandilya (Rly) bt Omar Balsara (Mah) 79-53, 77-54, 68-6; S.A. Saleem (TN) bt Devendra Joshi (PSPB) 65-38, 84-23, 59-23; Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt Shyamal Sharma (Bhi) 55-42, 72-15, 52-50; Nadeem Ahmed (TN) bt Sarang Shroff (Mah) 12-72, 78-35, 68-16, 37-72, 65-55; Parthiv Jhaveri (Guj) bt Rajat Khaneja (Chan) 49-14, 71-61, 70-01; K. Someshwar Rao (AP) bt Rafath Habib (Rly) 82-68, 67-25, 56-40; Anish Parekh (Jhar) bt Nitin Kohli (UP) 77-19, 55-17, 26-60, 53-64, 57-26; Alok Kumar (PSPB) bt Karan Anand (Mah) 42-75, 40-56, 84-28, 65-53, 83-13; John Bosco (AP) bt P.B. Liansang (Miz) 60-16, 65-6, 64-26.

Junior snooker: Semifinal league: Rishab Pandya (Mah) bt Shravan Mohta (Mah) 32-68, 61-45, 41-49, 69-9, 34-57, 67-31, 63-62; Shivam Arora (Bih) bt Younis Kuchey (JK) 66-33, 77-33, 71-30, 42-59, 63-39.

Women's billiards: knock-out: Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Lakshmi Suryanarayana Rao (Kar) 52-38, 54-13; Chitra Magimairaj (Kar) bt Arantxa Sanchis (Mah) 50-16, 44-52, 50-12; Indira Gowda (Kar) bt Jagruthi Patel (Mah) 51-36, 39-52, 52-17; Lavanya (TN) bt Shreya Kothari (WB) 51-42, 50-20; Mandip Kaur (Kar) bt Aakanksha Singh (AP) 50-48, 38-51, 50-26; Somini Srinivas (TN) bt Keerat Bhandal (Del) 50-24, 50-17; R. Uma Devi (Kar) bt Asha (TN) 26-50, 59-16, 50-13; Sangeetha Hemchand (Mah) bt Neeta Kothari (WB) 51-34, 50-34; Sadhana Patel (Kar) bt Shabana Banu (AP) 50-40, 51-41; Vidya Pillai (TN) bt Priyanka Agarwal (Ori) 50-25, 50-27; Anuja Thakur (PSPB) bt Indira Hegde (Kar) 50-19, 52-24; Renu Barkatiya (MP) bt Heena Khandelwal (Mah) 52-32, 50-23; Chitra Magimairaj (Kar) bt Lavanya (TN) 52-37, 51-10; T.V. Sridevi (Kar) bt Ashwini Puranik (MP) 37-50, 50-35, 50-24.

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