Naranjan NJ Leads WPT India Main Event; Bracelet-Winner Aditya Sushant Also Through to Day 2
The second WPT India Main Event attracted a total of 270 players on Day 1a, beating last year's number by 36. However, with two more flights tomorrow, the overall figure of 527 entrants from last year's tournament looks eminently beatable.
Several well-known players entered Day 1a, including Adda52 Team Pro Kunal Patni and Celebrity pro Minissha Lamba. They were joined by PokerStars Team Pro Muskan Sethi and Sahil Agarwal.
None of the aforementioned players made it through to Day 2, so they will have to make use of either Day 1b or the Day 1c turbo flight starting at 9:30 pm; a new addition for the 2018 Main Event.
One Indian poker star that made it through Day 1 is bracelet-winner Aditya Sushant who became the first Indian-born player to win a bracelet when he took down Event #10: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Tag Team alongside Nipun Java for $75,319.
"It feels like a very long day," he said shortly after bagging up 134,500 in chips. "I managed to chip up early, won a couple of hands and a few big pots, and then tried to hold onto the chips. I really wanted to make Day 2 today, so I don't have to play again tomorrow. It means I can have the day off, so I'm very relieved to make Day 2 with an above average stack."
When he first sat down, the player to his right Masha Soboleva already had over 100,000, and Sushant said he had to be very careful when entering pots with her.
"She was playing a very unpredictable, aggressive game and it was very hard to play against her. You pretty much were hoping to have a hand when you were up against her. I ran well against her in a couple of big pots, and that's where I kind ended up chipping up."
"You pretty much were hoping to have a hand when you were up against her."
Sushant took down the Kickoff Event earlier this week, the first event on the WPT festival schedule.
"That was a fun one," he told PokerNews. "Winning the first one; obviously winning the Main Event... there would be nothing like it. There's still a long way to go, so let's see what happens.
"The vibe has been great. The numbers seem to be up. Last year we got a great response and this year it seems even better. The place is buzzing, and it's full of people. I'm sure the numbers are going to be great."
Leading the remaining 85 players after Day 1a is Naranjan NJ (lead photo) with 284,500 from his starting stack of 30,000. He benefitted from the elimination of Soboleva in the penultimate hand of the night, calling off the bluff of his opponent with a full house leaving Soboleva drawing to a chop that she did not make.
Other big stacks include Pranay Kapoor (231,500), Keran Kakkad (229,500), Vaibhav Shah (216,000) and Tarun Goyaz (206,500).
While Adda52 Team Pro Patni failed to make it through to Day 2, after running queens into kings earlier in the day, fellow Team Pro Amit Jain bagged up 154,000 and will be looking forward to running deep in this event.
Also through to Day 2 is Shuchi Chamaria (102,500) and Raghav Bansal (140,000).
Stay tuned for more PokerNews coverage from the WPT India right here in Goa.
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
