Rupesh fought well for top slot in Group, though in vain

Mike Russell (England) and Rupesh Shah (India) played their last league match for the top slot in Group A. Mike after winning the lag, asked Rupesh to start with white. After playing one safety shot, Mike tried a straight red pot, which he missed and luckily got a cannon from where he constructed 150 unfinished to advance 1-0. Second game, despite Rupesh’s 81, Mike pocketed the game with a break of 64 gaining 2-0 lead. The third game was also looking to be in the pocket of Mike, but on a score of 51, he missed a drop cannon by a whisker. Rupesh got a chance to fight back and he did justice by smashing a 150 break and 143 in the next game to level the match. In the deciding game, Mike did not allow Rupesh to show his skills and with an unfinished 151, Mike wins the match and top-slot in Group A. Rupesh finished as No.2 in the Group.

Indian masters Geet Sethi and Pankaj Advani sailed smoothly 3-0 win over Min Hu Baek of Korea and Alok Kumar of India. Geet now has to wait for the result of match between Aidan Murray (Ireland) and Nay Thway Oo (Myanmar) to see if he is into the knock-out or not.

A setback for England as Phil Mumford did not turn up for his match due to illness and because he gave a second walkover; he is out from the Point Format championship.