World Men’s (Under-21) snooker championship: Duggal overcomes Milewski challenge

Bengaluru: Chandigarh-based Ranveer Duggal showcased his growing reputation as one of the better snooker players in the country by warding off a stiff challenge from Poland’s Sebastian Milewski to march into the quarterfinals of the World Men’s (Under-21) snooker championship at the Karnataka State Billiards Association on Thursday.

Duggal, the son of former national champion Sandeep, showed that he was cut from the same cloth as his late father, notching up a 4-2 (18-57, 64-38, 72-4, 27-55, 64-40, 61-50) victory in a best-of-seven pre-quarterfinal contest. 

With his mother watching on, the 20-year-old was rather expressive with his misses, but he was able to hold his own when the pressure was on him as the game was tied 2-2. Once he had the chance to break away, though, he did and made it through to the next round where he will take on 13-year-old phenom Michal Szubarczyk from Poland.

On a table not far away, Rahul Williams came to the party for the second time on the same day as he put away Germany’s Lennart Tomei in a six-frame thriller. The Tamil Nadu cueist won 4-2 (27-59, 61-2, 56-23, 55-63, 53-23, 60-19) to book his spot in the quarters. 

In that sense, what Rahul endured in the pre-quarters was not nearly as taxing as his contest from earlier in the day for he was stretched thin by an anxious encounter against Sky Chan from Hong Kong. He eventually won 3-2 (27-79, 58-23, 75-56, 29-62, 71-24) when he was hardly expected to. 

His qualification meant five Indians would qualify for the last-16 stage, but only a few hours later, that number dwindled to two. 

Results: Pre-quarterfinals: Zac Cosker (Wal) bt Mahendra Chouhan (Ind) 4-1 (105 (81) -10, 71-26, 60-42, 50-70 (54), 63-2); Lomnaw Issarangkun (Tha) bt Seyed Arsalan Bagheri (Irn) 4-3 (0-92 (86), 82 (78)-6, 5-88 (78), 68-5, 17-65, 65-29, 74-1); Alexander Widau (Ger) bt Aarav Sancheti (Ind) 4-0 (96 (96)-0, 56-52, 77 (76) -43, 74-24); Rahul Williams (Ind) bt Lennart Tomei (Ger) 4-2 (27-59, 61-2, 56-23, 55-63, 53-23, 60-19); Riley Powell (Wal) bt Shahin Sabzi (Irn) 4-2 (8-64, 56-32, 74-44, 0-103 (80), 75-63, 78-1); Tirdad Azadipour (Irn) bt Kwan Chun Wong (HKG) 4-3 (60-10, 62-20, 30-77, 59-75, 58-51, 15-67, 70-23); Michal Szubarczyk (Pol) bt Vibhas K (Ind) 4-2 (77-19, 77-3, 41-60, 60-86, 66-38, 61-19); Ranveer Duggal (Ind) bt Sebastian Milewski (Pol) 4-2 (18-57, 64-38, 72-4, 27-55, 64-40, 61-50).

Quarterfinal line-up: Cosker v Issarangkun; Powell v Widau; Rahul v Azadipour; Duggal v Szubarczyk.  

Last-22 stage: Mahendra bt Srikanth Gadda (Ind) 3-0 (61-17, 78-7, 70 (53)-51); Sabzi bt Christian Richter (Ger) 3-2 (42-66, 0-78 (58), 68-9, 64-26, 85-32); Aarav Sancheti (Ind) bt Tathya Sachdev (Ind) 3-1 (59-70, 43-36, 64-27, 85 (63)-22); Rahul bt Sky Chan (HKG) 3-2 (27-79, 58-23, 75-56, 29-62, 71-24); Wong bt Sham Alwin (Ind) 3-0 (75-11, 79-25, 80-8); Vibhas K (Ind) bt Mohamed Musarraf (SL) 3-0 (64-45, 82-10, 67-39).

League stage: Sabzi bt Paul Arthur Jeroch (Ger) 3-1(79-9, 37-40, 61-8, 58-11); Richter bt Mayur Garg (Ind) 3-0 (59-47, 73-19, 79-14); Gadda bt Benyamin Gazavand (Irn) 3-0 (63-20, 73 (61)-11, 63-6); Lomnaw Issarangkun (Tha) bt Krzysztof Czapnik (Pol) 3-0 (78 (55)-49, 69-16, 83 (83)-0); Vibhas bt Hassan Ali Amanulla (SL) 3-0 (111 (58)-19, 51-20, 52-33); Sebastian Milewski (Pol) bt Misagh Dehghani (Irn) 3-0 (94 (50)-12, 69 (65)-30, 76-50); Tathya Sachdev (Ind) bt Kamran Majid (Ind) 3-1 (66-36, 17-65, 60-10, 67-60).