India No 2 Dhruv Sitwala displayed his class in abundance while teammate Siddharth Parekh was a picture perfect as the duo helped PJ Hindu Gymkhana beat Central Railway Mechanic Institute 594-502 for a place in the semi-finals of the Michael Ferreira Mumbai Billiards League knock-out tournament, held at PJ Hindu Gymkhana on Wednesday. Earlier, Kirit Raiyani gave hosts Hindu Gym a winning start by beating junior Nikhil Ghadge without much ado.

Dhruv, playing with minus 60 handicap, in fact, was not in his usual self, being affected by a stiff neck, which hampered him considerably. But still he played within limits to rout Joe Thomas 200-21 and then Siddharth Parekh, starting from scratch, made light of Sunil Ghadge’s plus 80 handicap to win the tie 194-79.

Results (QFs): Park Club bt North India Association 747-681 (Amit Sapru (+70) bt Manjeet Bhomer (+90) (+75) 200-155; Vishal Gehani (+70) bt Harnabh Shah (+100) 200-62; Sanjeev Bijlani (+75) lost to Mahesh Jagdale (+40) 132-134); SPG bt Catholic Gym 663-617 (Amit Bhadbhade (+85) bt Derek Sippy (+80) 200-115; Shekhar Surve (+70) lost to Andrew Dyer (+60) 148-200; Subhash Agarwal (-30) bt Alex D’Cruz ((+80) 200-82); PJ Hindu Gym bt Central Rly Mech. Inst. 594-502 (Kirit Raiyani +90) bt Nikhil Ghadge (+100) 200-132; Dhruv Sitwala (-60) bt Joe Thomas (+90) 200-21; Siddharth Parekh (Scr) bt Sunil Ghadge (+80) 194-79); Bombay Gym bt Elphinstone CC 555-423 (Rishab Kumar (+55) bt Farhad Tengra (+50) 200-94; Aditya Agarwal (+35) lost to Arun Agarwal (-50) 103-200; Kaizad Fitter (+70) bt Cyrus Mistry (+70) 92-69).