NEW DELHI, July 26: Delhi's Rajat Taneja created a major sensation on the opening day of the Centre Billiard Pool Tournament at Krishna Market Community Hall, Kalkaji, here on Sunday when he defeated former world champion Geet Sethi 5-4 in a Group A league match. The players were tied 4-4 but in the ninth and final frame, Rajat potted the 9 ball through connection in the midst of the game to win the frame and the match.Geet Sethi had earlier won his league matches against Dhruv Agarwal (5-0) and Sidharth Anand (5-2) in the 6-man group.
In group B, Ashok Shandilya also tasted defeat at the hands of Irfan Mirza of Calcutta, losing 1-5. Shandilya, however, got a walkover in his next encounter against Gaurav Anand of Delhi.
In Group C, Feroz Khan of Delhi won his two league matches beating Jatin Rajpal 5-1 and Sanjay (Delhi) 5-2.
The day saw a spate of walkovers with Punjab's Alok Kumar a prominent absentee in an event which will be a medal sport at the Bangkok Asian Games.
RESULTS
GroupA: Sidharth Anand (Delhi) bt Philip s Crizzle (Calcutta) 5-1, Anup Uppal (Dlhi) bt Rajat Taneja (Delhi) 5-0, Geet Sethi (Gujarat) bt D Aggarwal 5-0, Geet Sethi bt Sidharth Anand 5-2, Rajat Taneja (Delhi) bt Geet Sethi 5-4, Anuj Uppal (Delhi) bt Philip Crizzle 5-2.
Group B: Loju Thukral w/o Gaurav Anand, Varun Taneja bt Joy Mehra 5-1, Irfan Mirza bt Ashok Shandilya 5-1, Thukral bt Mehra 5-1, Shandilya w/o Anand.
Group C: Feroze Khan bt Jatin Rajpal 5-1, Vishal Sahay bt Manan Chandra 5-3, Shakeel Ahmed bt Rajpal 5-1, Shakeel Ahmed bt Sanjay 5-4, Sahay bt Rajpal 5-3, Chandra bt Sanjay 5-1, Shakeel Khan bt Sanjay 5-2.
Group D: Mukesh Rehani w/o Imtiaz Ahmed, Subhash Sood w/o Vishal Arora, Sood bt Amit Sharma 5-3, Sharma w/o Imtiaz, Sood bt Dharminder Lillee 5-3.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
