Little known BV Rathod of Andhra Pradesh beat Girish in a 4-3 thriller. Girish kept his hopes alive by snatching the fifth and sixth frames on the black, but Rathod surprised his opponent in the decider with another nail-biting black ball finish.

Also, Yagnesh Merai of Gujarat upset Gulati with a convincing 4-2 win to advance to the final of the qualifying round. Maharashtra’s Jayesh Salvi completed the day of upsets beating Sunil Jain of Elphinstone Cricket Club.