Haryana’s talented cueist Digvijay Kadian was on a high and proved too strong for home challenger Anurag Bagri cruising to a smooth 4-0 victory in a second-round match of the Rs 13.5 lakh CCI Snooker Classic 2025, an all-India tournament, played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones billiards hall on Wednesday.

Former Indian Junior National champion Kadian of Income Tax showed fine control and excellent potting skills as he constructed breaks in all four frames. He started with breaks of 48 and 60 in winning the first frame and then rolled in breaks of 50 and 53 in the next two before signing off with a solid effort of 125 in the fourth frame to complete a 108-17, 69-32, 80-52, and 125-2 win. His 125 run is the highest in the competition.

In the most exciting match of the day, Mumbai’s Rahul Sachdev struck top form to stun Kreishh Gurbaxani 4-3 (63-33, 0-80, 85-1, 82-38, 53-79, 116-0, and 63-11) win in a pulsating encounter, which witnessed some substantial breaks from both cueist. The left-handed Sachdev compiled breaks of 42 (4th frame), 116 (6th) and 59 (7th), while Gurbaxani rolled in efforts of 80 and 85 in the second and third and 63 in the fifth.

Local contenders Abhishek Bajaj and Nikhil Saigal, both from Mumbai scored contrasting wins to secure their berths in the round of 32. Bajaj blanked qualifier Abhijeet More winning 4-0 (53-5, 70-15, 65-44, and 74-5), while qualifier Saigal defeated CCI member Nikhil Ootam 4-2 (39-43, 66-53, 53-39, 55-50, 32-63, and 62-44).

In the match that went the distance, Dilip Kumar of Railways faced a determined challenge from Pune’s Suraj Rathi before clinching a satisfying 4-3 (3-59, 55-16, 45-70, 68-33, 36-89, 61-47, and 63-34) victory. Kumar produced breaks of 36 in the second frame and 59 in the deciding frame to come out trumps, while the young Rathi had a solitary effort of 57 in winning the fifth frame.

Results – Round 2:

Jaison Malhotra beat Vinay Swaminathan 4-1 (63-46, 34-67, 70-31, 62-42, 62-38);

Marzdi Kalyaniwala beat Sumit Ahuja 4-1 (76-42, 68-42, 59-32, 23-78, 70-37);

Dilip Kumar beat Suraj Rathi 4-3 (3-59, 55(36)-16, 45-70, 68-33, 36-89(57), 61-47, 63(59)-34);

Nikhil Saigal beat Nikhil Ootam 4-2 (39-43, 66-53, 53-39, 55-50, 32-63, 62-44);

Digvijay Kaidan beat Anurag Bagri 4-0 (108(48,60)-17, 69(50)-32, 80(53)-52, 125(125)-2);

Abhishek Bajaj beat Abhijeet More 4-0 (53-5, 70(55)-15, 65-44, 74-5);

E. Pandurangaiah beat Rovin D’Souza 4-2 (58-65, 54-44, 45-71, 86(53)-7, 64-15, 61-37);

Himanshu Jain beat Rushbah Jain 4-0 (57-18, 70(69)-6, 70-18, 88-63);

Laxman Rawat beat Ketan Chawla 4-0 (58-37, 68-1, 69-39, 71-5);

Rahul Sachdev beat Kreishh Gurbaxani 4-3 (63-33, 0-80(80), 85(85)-1, 82(42)-38, 53-79(63), 116(116)-0, 63(59)-11).