Naveen soloman

Nehru Indoor Stadium: Newly-crowned Junior boys’ National billiards champion Ranveer Duggal inched towards a ‘double’ in the ongoing 90th National Billiards & Snooker Championships as he moved one step closer to the knockout stage in Junior boys’ snooker event at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, here on Sunday.

Chandigarh’s Duggal, runners-up last year, beat Samundra Singh of Rajasthan 3-0 (62-9, 68-5, 82-1) and Ishant Kumar of Himachal Pradesh by an identical 3-0 margin (67-41, 75-4, 70-40) in his four-man group stage and is one step away sealing a Last 32 spot.

Meanwhile, Tathya Sachdev (MP) moved up to challenge Duggal for the top-spot in the group with wins over Ishant Kumar (3-1) and Samundra Singh (3-0). Among other group matches, Tushar Tilara (UP) beat Vishesh Singhal (Odi) 3-0 and Irham Parvez (J&K) put it across Naveen Soloman (AP) 3-0.