Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI) Reigning champion Alok Kumar (PSPB) opened his title defence by breezing past Abhay Kadne of Maharashtra 3-0 in a Group A match of the MIG Club 3rd Masters Snooker championship on Friday.

Punjab-based Alok quickly got down to business and, with Kadne unable to offer much resistance, was in complete control.

Alok compiled a break of 51 in the third frame to record a fluent 56-33, 89-23, 88-1 victory.

Maharashtra's Sarang Shroff had a very fruitful day winning both his matches in Group-J in convincing fashion against opponents from Gujarat.

He first outclassed Amish 3-0 (78-16, 68-22 and 83-1) in the afternoon and later charged past Rahul Agrawal, also in straight frames (62-11, 68-55 and 75-16).

In another match that went the distance, Maharashtra's Bapu Gaikwad showed tremendous fighting spirit to snatch a 3 -2 win against Ishtmit Singh Malik of Uttar Pradesh in Group- C.

Gaikwad clinched a black ball decider to record a 44- 36, 93-57, 19-69, 47-60, 55-46 win.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)