Mumbai’s teen cueist Sparsh Pherwani clinched the Maharashtra state senior snooker crown. The 19-year-old Pherwani, was in good nick and with some shrewd and crafty play he dashed the hopes of his senior and more accomplished opponent Rishabh Thakkar also from Mumbai by coasting to a 4-1 victory in the best-of-7 frame snooker final of the Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-1) Championship at the Deccan Gymkhana, Pune.
The youngster was slow to take off the blocks as Rishabh made a positive start and played solidly to take a close opening frame. Sparsh gathered his wits and uncorked a tidy break of 48 in winning the second to draw level (1-1)
He easily won the third frame to wrest the initiative. In the fourth the Mumbai youngster trailed by over 35 points, but he showed great composure and with some tactical play to snatch the fourth to open up a 3-1 lead.
The fifth was a close affair which Sparsh managed to win on the black to complete a well-deserved 43-61, 62-27, 69-6, 56-47, and 64-57 triumph.
“I went to Sheffield for a month long training stint last month and the long hour of practice put in during that visit seems to be paying off. This is my third title on the senior circuit. I now look forward to winning the Bombay Gymkhana Open Handicap Billiards tournament which starts on Monday,” Pherwani said.
Meanwhile, Mukund Bharadia of Mumbai finished in third position. He defeated Pune’s Vignesh Sanghvi 2-1 in the 3rd-4th place match. Mumbai cuiests Manav Panchal and Abhimanyu Gandhi clinched the fifth and sixth positions respectively.
