Aditya Mehta survives a scare in snooker tournament

Chennai: National and Asian champion Aditya Mehta survived a close call before winning 3-2 against top Indian junior Laxman Rawat in a Group B league match of the Kences Constructions - ASCA International snooker tournament here on Tuesday.

After sharing four frames, Rawat had his chances in the decider, but committed far too many errors while the crafty Mehta, aided by small breaks, went on to clinch the issue when his opponent not only fouled, but also left him a crucial red in the jaw of the pocket.

Meanwhile, Thailand's Noppon Saengkham and R Yotharuck won both their respective league matches to virtually enter the knock-out phase.

The results (preliminary league):

Group B: Aditya Mehta bt Laxman Rawat 3-2; Siddharth Parikh bt J Varun Kumar 3-2. Group D: Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) bt Shivam Arora 3-1; Saengkham bt Manish Jain 3-1.

Group E: Brijesh Damani bt Sarang Shroff 3-2; Andy Lee (Hong Kong) bt Neeraj Kumar 3-2. Group F: Manan Chandra bt Lalrina Renthlei 3-1. Group G: Steven Chau (Hong Kong) bt IH Manudev 3-1.

Group H: Shabaaz Khan bt IV Rajeev 3-1; R Yotharuck (Thailand) bt Rajeev 3-2; Yotharuck bt R Girish 3-2. (IANS)