Rawat strikes form to score twin wins

Mumbai, Oct 23: India number 3 Laxman Rawat beat Neeraj Kumar and Dhavaj Haria by identical 4-1 margins in the men’s second leg round-robin league matches of the GSC World Snooker Qualifiers here on Saturday.

Laxman compiled three notable breaks of 47 (2nd frame), 82 (3rd) and 49 (5th) to outshine teammate Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) and clinch a 70-13, 57(47)-17, 113(82)-00, 62-75 and 67(49)-01) victory in the BSFI national selection tournament.

Earlier, Laxman had produced another steady performance to overcome Neeraj Kumar (RSPB) 4-1 (50-37, 58-43, 35-75, 80-20 and 68(66)-26).

In women’s action, national champion and India number one Vidya Pillai of Karnataka bounced back after three consecutive losses by defeating Tamil Nadu’s strong challenger and third ranked Indian Varsha Sanjeev 3-1 (45-83, 58-20, 64-28, 61-49).

Indian number two Amee Kamani (MP) also tasted success by getting the better of Maharashtra’s Arantxa Sanchis 3-1 (10-46, 97-52, 67-28, 59-43).

The top two Indian men’s players — Aditya Mehta and Pankaj Advani — also recorded victories.

India number 1 Aditya defeated Himanshu Jain (TEL) 4-1 (92-16, 62-43, 32-79, 62-44, 109(65)-01), while Advani outplayed Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) 4-0 (71(44)-16, 74-38, 72(54)-18, 56-48). (PTI)