Rupesh Soni alias ‘Gugi’ and Chagan Modessa were the first players to kiss goodbye to the Cargostars June Snooker Mug tournament, after losing their first round matches on Thursday night at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club (DGC).
Gugi and Modessa were no match to their rivals Toshi and Akhil Kassamali alias ‘Lobilo,’ when they all went out by losing their Division B matches with identical 2-1 frames defeats.
Underdog Toshi started the game in an impressive mood taking first frame, but he allowed Gugo, who won the April Division B, to settle the game in the second frame. In the later stage Gugi found the going tough as he could not maintain his cleansheet and kissed the tournament goodbye in the first round this month.
Lobilo also started the game well, taking the first frame but faded in the second only to allow Modessa, a well-known snooker referee, to come back and win the frame in style.
Modessa was behind with 7-25 points but managed to stop his opponent and lead by 27-25. As the game entered black, Lobilo counted a foul shot after he failed to kick the sole remaining black ball at the table before his opponent surrendered in the final frame. He was set for action last night against Kaushik Merchant, who got first round bye.
In another match, Sajjad Selehbhai went through by virtue of walkover after his opponent Siten Borkhataria failed to show up to honour his scheduled Thursday first round match. Selehbhai was set to face Hussein Zavery last night.
According to the draw, the Division B final will be held on Monday, while Division A will resume their battle on Tuesday.
By MBONILE BURTON, Tanzania Daily News