Advani knockouts Alok enters semis

Pankaj Advani showed a fine form as he knocked out Alok Kumar 5-0 in the best of nine frames to enter semifinals in the ONGC 16th Asian Billiards championship being played in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Advani, who had earlier in the day defeated South Korea Hwang Chulho, 4-0 hitting three consecutive breaks of 100, was at his fluent best.

He took the first frame 101-11 with a break of 82. The second frame went Adavni’s way 101-28 with another fine break of 88. By the third and fourth frame Alok showed some fight and for a brief moment looked to gaining momentum.

But Advani capitalised on errors and won the third and fourth frames 101-21 and 101-47, respectively. In the fifth and the final frame, Advani hit a break of 97 to win 102-0 and clinch semifinals berth.

Bhaskar Balachandra defeated Dhruv Sitwala 5-1, while Sourav Kothari ended the challenge of Praprut Chaithanasakun of Thailand 5-2.

ISHPREET QUALIFIES FOR THE LAST 16

Ishpreet Singh Chadha of India had to fight hard to beat Jefry Road of the Philippines in a must win situation to qualify for the quarterfinals in the under-21 Asian Snooker.

Ishpreet Singh who had taken a 3-2 lead saw Jefry claw his way back into the match leveling the scores at 3-3 in the must win final frame.

Ishpreet, who is nursing a foot injury and was seen limping, kept his cool to win 63-35.

Digvijay Kadian blanked Ayman Al Amri of Saudi Arabia 4-0, while Fan Zhengyi of China topped group ‘B’ with an all win record and 10 points.

ADVANI, WHO HAD EARLIER IN THE DAY DEFEATED SOUTH KOREA HWANG CHULHO 40 HITTING THREE CONSECUTIVE BREAKS OF 100, WAS AT HIS FLUENT BEST