Sundeep Gulati, 3 others make Bangalore Qualifiers of Indian Open
Gulati, 2009 IBSF World Championship pre-quarterfinalist Lucky Vatnani, junior snooker champion Faisal Khan and Manish Jain qualified from the Delhi Leg which saw the participation of 96 cueists from almost every part of the country for the knock-out best-of-seven-frames qualifiers.
Delhi's Sundeep Gulati and three others made the cut for the final qualifying leg of the Indian Open 2013 World Professional Ranking Snooker tournament with clinical victories over their respective rivals in the Delhi Qualifiers Leg 1, which concluded here on Monday.
Gulati, 2009 IBSF World Championship pre-quarterfinalist Lucky Vatnani, junior snooker champion Faisal Khan and Manish Jain qualified from the Delhi Leg which saw the participation of 96 cueists from almost every part of the country for the knock-out best-of-seven-frames qualifiers.
Another four cueists will be selected from the second qualifiers in Bangalore early next month who will be joined by the Delhi qualifiers for the final qualifying round which will again be played in the 'Garden City'.
These cueists will take on the top-eight national ranked players in the final qualifier for the six wild card spots available to India as a host nation.
Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta, two of the finest Indian cueists, have already qualified for the 3,00,000 pound Indian Open to be played in the capital from October 14 to 18, giving fans a chance to see the best players of world snooker in action.
The five-day world ranking event will see top 64 cueists from across the globe battling for a whopping winner's prize purse of 50,000 pound.
In the Delhi qualifiers, Gulati reigned supreme on the green baize as he blanked Haryana's Divya Sharma 4-0 (60-34, 76(61)-16, 83-51, 68-15) in the first final of the day at the Megapool Snooker Academy.
The match saw Gulati constructing a fine break of 61 in the second frame.
The next match saw Railways' Khan in action against Delhi's Varun Madan.
Khan was at his menacing best as he produced a slick, high-calibre potting display to beat Madan 4-0 (63-61, 67-34, 86-09, 74-39).
Andhra Pradesh's Vatnani too had it easy against Punjab's Aayush Kumar and won by a straight margin of 4-0 (62-06, 64-46, 79-06, 67-46).
Vatnani produced a clinical display of potting mixed with excellent safety play to book his berth in the finals of the Bangalore qualifiers.
The last final of the day witnessed West Bengal's Manish Jain taking on Punjab's Sahil Nayyar.
Jain, a seasoned campaigner, did not take much time in outclassing the Punjab cueist in staright frames (58-19, 77-47, 88-54, 64-16).