Eissa rallies to down Scot Farnworth

The match, in itself resembled the even-keeled decider, with fortunes swinging as the pendulum. Scot Farnworth, under pressure to match his elder brother Ben’s win on the adjacent table, seemed confident as the match progressed despite dropping the first frame.

A 3-1 lead was achieved thus and Scot took a break, that proved detrimental in the final analysis. For, on resumption, the tables were turned with Eissa displaying all those qualities, Scot had shown before the interval, of practical plotting and precise potting, and the frame scores were levelled at 3-all.

Both started the decider tentatively, keener not to allow the rival to get a chance rather than to plan anything positive on their own. Leads became a misnomer and were levelled with remarkable regularity, as Scot seemed to have seized the initiative with two reds left. That, unfortunately for the Kiwi cueist lasted only a red as his Abhu Dhabi rival raced away with the customary clearance of the colours.

PANKAJ, MANNAN WIN: Only a little earlier, another debutant arrived on the scene on a triumphant note, a result that warmed the cockles of the local crowd. Fifteen-year-old Pankaj Advani, began his international career in a confident mood. A 52 in the second frame and a 51 in the fourth gave signs of things to expect in the matches to come as the Frank Anthony Public School student dashed any hopes his Sri Lankan rival Tavinne de Croos might have nurtured with contempt.

Advani’s win was in fact the first for the hosts and Mannan Chandra, last year’s semifinalist at the tournament, took cue to record a result that left his Egyptian rival Mustafa Ally Atta mesmerised. Ritesh Shah, with the reputation of being Yasin Merchant’s ward, made his trainer proud with almost impeccable snooker while beating Sri Lankan Nileshan A Fernando.

MURPHY DAZZLES: But all this happened after the tournament’s `top seed’ Robert Murphy began his quest, finishing off Malaysian southpaw Khor Tat Siong with clinical precision.

Meagre twenties-thirties were the breaks, Murphy compiled while winning the first two frames, but unleashed his brilliance in the third while compiling a 112, the day’s highest.

Six blacks and blues each and a pink spoke for the Irishman’s hunger for the `big’ balls, but what stood more significantly was the recoveries he played, collecting a yellow and a green, to keep his break going.

Singaporean Tommy Ang recorded the next ton of the tournament in a similar manner, collecting 10 blacks, two blues, a yellow and a green apiece before a lapse in concentration forced the end of what promised to be a mammoth break. The break the snooker buffs eagerly await in the days to come, after the splendid appetiser provided on the opening day.

Results (Preliminary league)

Pool A: Robert Murphy (RoI) bt Khor Tat Siong (Mal) 4-0 (49-26, 85-7, 112-0, 100-9). Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Tavinne de Croos (SL) 4-0 (82-15, 104-0, 65-12, 70-14). Supachai Wiwarangkon (Thai) bt Oliver Auns (Lat) 4-2 (64-35, 81-1, 9-90, 69-43, 57-75, 52-34). Eissa MA Hindi (UAE) bt Scot Farnworth (NZ) 4-3 (72-12, 27-48, 35-53, 39-65, 48-14, 69-13, 58-31). Pool B: Alistor Wilson (NI) bt Jaswinder Singh (Ind) 4-2 (73-44, 70-37, 64-37, 44-80, 18-62, 70-48). TJ Dowling (RoI) bt Willie Florence (NZ) 4-1 (55-45, 79-4, 52-34, 18-61, 62-42). Chris Batchelor (Wales) bt Mohd. SE Mella (Egy) 4-1 (91-30, 71-40, 15-60, 83-5, 69-56). Pool C: Brendon O’Donoghue (RoI) bt Pasi Jantti (Fin) 4-0 (60-19, 65-31, 55-18, 92-32). Ian Barber (Aus) bt Mohd. Al-Sada (Qat) 4-2 (39-82, 48-44, 17-66, 66-54, 55-10, 59-14). Mannan Chandra (Ind) bt Mustafa Ally Atta (Egy) 4-0 (73-17, 76-13, 84-12, 73-33). Pool D: Gernit Bij de Leij (Ned) bt Seinal Warnakula (SL) 4-0 (67-30, 84-0, 83-18, 92-0). Tommy Ang(Sing) bt Ahmed Md. Khalifa (UAE) 4-2 (38-67, 45-56, 55-25, 52-15, 100-0, 96-9). Johan D’hondf (Bel) bt Kamal Chawla (Ind) 4-1 (107-31, 69-35, 66-15, 44-54, 52-41). Pool E: Rorry McCarell (NI) bt Chris Calabress (Aus) 4-3 (58-72, 56-42, 55-27, 17-86, 35-63, 77-9, 89-0). Bobby Cruickshanks (Scot) bt Stephen Wellesby (Eng) 4-0 (68-29, 52-39, 56-7, 82-1). Pool F: Kevin Tang (Sing) bt Ngoh Min Choon (Mal) 4-0 (73-43, 79-14, 64-13, 73-2). Scot Nicholson (Wales) bt Tero Suvanto (Fin) 4-1 (79-0, 54-9, 61-6, 35-43, 57-24). Roy Stolk (Ned) bt Daithi Whelan (RoI) 4-2 (78-37, 57-53, 62-39, 15-75, 1-75, 77-0). Pool G: Kobkit Palajin (Thai) bt Ahmed Aly Abdelaai (Egy) 4-0 (54-12, 90-31, 58-32, 78-17). Syed Md Shah (Pak) bt Harit D Parikh (Ind) 4-1 (31-59, 53-7, 52-28, 90-9, 55-47). Pool H: Arnuparp Putrakul (Thai) bt Ibrahim SIE Sumt (Egy) 4-1 (37-60, 73-34, 77-32, 82-32, 72-9). Ritesh Shah (Ind) bt Nileshan A Fernando (SL) 4-0 (80-1, 62-44, 66-9, 68-23). Ben Farnworth (NZ) bt Ahmed AlSulaiti (Qat) 4-0 (72-29, 92-1, 108-10, 94-6.