PUNE: World champion Prashant More led the Indian charge along with newly crowned Swiss League event winner Zaheer Pasha in the league phase of the Men’s singles in the 8th International Carrom Federation Cup being played at the PYC Gymkhana here on Wednesday.
The fifth round saw Prashant quell the challenge of Mohd Hemaet Molla of Bangladesh at 25-11 and 25-9. Zaheer too was at his best when he demolished Adam Adil from Maldives 25-4 and 25-9.
But the day’s most emphatic win was registered by Sri Lankan Niashantha Fernando, who blanked Pierre Dubois, the French national champion 25-0, 25-2.
With that the former World Champion has sent a loud message to the talented Indians who may cross his path in the knockout stages.
Irshad Ahmed and Rajesh Gohil who are in tremendous form this year also proved that they cannot be overlooked as claimants for the title. Irshad had the measure of Mohd Ali Robin of Bangladesh at 25-9 and 25-3 while Rajesh didn’t even allow his opponent Nicolo Gallo to open his account in the match.
The Indian women too showed their class in the third round of the pre-quarter final league. Ayesha Sajid a multiple international medals winner beat Joseph Roshita 25-14 and 25-8 after some initial resistance.
Rashmi Kumari a world champion in 2000 and 2012 was also unrelenting while demolishing Rebecca Dalrine also of Sri Lanka at 25-11 and 25-15. The third Indian lady, reigning champion S Apoorva bettered M Chitradevi (Sri Lanka) 25-16 and 25-1. The loser put up a stiff fight initially but fizzled out.
There were players of Indian origin on the winning side for their adopted countries.
The most notable win came from Wajahatullah, who migrated to Canada. He defeated Malaysia’s Abdul Mutahin Ismail 25-6, 4-25 and 25-0. Ranjit Sapre (US) beat Peter Boecker (Germany) 25-12 and 25-5. UK’s Chandan Narkar beat German Dirk Polchow 25-8, 25-5. Till the third day there were as many as 12 break to finishes recorded with Zaheer Pasha scoring half a dozen of them. In addition there were six black to finishes.
OTHER RESULTS
Fifth round:
Men: Gianluca Cristiani (Ita) bt Vladimir Saric (Srb) 25-0, 25-0; Mohammed Munthasir (Mld) bt Christopher Walter (Mal) 25-16, 25-7; Joseph Meyer (Sui) bt Tadej Salmun (Svk) 25-0, 25-0; Dileth Dulakshan (Sri) bt Nazrul Islam (UK) 25-4, 25-5; Mohammad Azam Khan (UAE) 25-9, 25-22.
Women: Elisa Zucchiatti (Ita) bt Masnoora (Mldi) 25-2, 25-5; Fathimath Rayana (Mld) bt Paulina Nowakowska (Pol) 25-5, 25-9; Afsana Nasir (Ban) bt Sharifa Azeni (Mld) 25-1, 25-1.