Featuring in an absorbing second round clash against Eloke, Khandwala recovered brilliantly after being twice in arrears before forcing the decider in the best-of-five frames encounter.

In a match that could have gone either way, both cueists kept pace with each other until Khandwala attempted safety play in the fifth and final frame and sold the black to give Eloke a 58-41, 40-69, 66-47, 38-59, 64-63 win.

In another second round thriller, Kunal Rokade rallied from a 0-2 deficit and a tight third frame to overcome Neel Vithalani 50-67, 26-70, 59-52, 81-37, 65-33.

Rokade was down in the dumps following a disastrous start after Vithalani grabbed the opening frame and fired a break of 40 to take the second. But he managed to squeeze his way back into the match as he snatched the third frame with a seven point advantage before going on to clinch the next two frames and the tie.

Mahesh Jagdale of North Indian Association closed an electrifying day of close contests when he beat Kishore Longani 58-62, 53-6, 46-47, 71-6, 62-23 in another match that stretched into the decider.

Falling behind on two occasions after dropping the opening frame and a black-ball third, Jagdale touched form in time to take it away from a hapless Longani with a 58-62, 53-6, 46-47, 71-6, 62-23 win to advance to the third round.

India junior No. 2 Vivek Chopra of Jalandhar, a semi-finalist in last week’s Western India Junior Open, fired a significant break of 56 in the second frame on his way to a convincing 53-20, 78-0, 66-14 win over Pawan Kohli.

Results