By Anand Philar, IANS,
Bangalore: Indians enjoyed a field day with one of the title favourites Pankaj Advani, the 2002 champion, notching two victories and showing definite signs of running into good form as the IBSF World Snooker Championship commenced here Monday.
Another former champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand also recorded two victories to line himself for a berth in the knock-out stage while veteran Yasin Merchant, playing in his swansong tournament, won both his matches.
Meanwhile, National champion Alok Kumar crashed to a 0-4 defeat against Welshman Lee Walker in the afternoon session after having won his first outing quite comfortably.
“Against Lee, I led in almost all the frames, but he punished me every time I made a mistake. I thought I was playing ok because I made a couple of half-century breaks in the morning. Anyway, there are still a couple of more matches. So, let’s see,” said Alok.
On his part, the 26-year old Advani sought to play down his two wins saying there was still a long way to go in the tournament.
“I played well, but I am not thinking beyond my next match, rather than the knockout stage. The tables were a bit slow, but I suppose, they will open up when more matches are played on them,” said Advani.
Another notable Indian winner was Manan Chandra, the gifted cueist from Delhi, but who has the notoriety for being unpredictable with his game swinging from mediocre to sublime.
“I was quite happy the way I played today. The pockets are easy, and I am sure the tables will improve as the tournament progresses,” said Chandra after blanking Ahmed Aly Elsayed of the US 4-0.
In fact, almost all players took time to come to terms with new cloth, cushions and slates, but Poland’s Marcin Nitschke notched the tournament’s first century break with a run of 101, but it did not help him avert a 3-4 defeat against Yaser Elsherbiny of Egypt in a Group D match.
Also cracking the three-figure mark was Mohamed Shehab (UAE) who ran up a break of 112 while defeating Ali Jaafar of France 4-1.
The results (preliminary league):
Group A: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thai) bt Ahmed Aly Elsayed (USA) 4-0; Kevin Van Hove – Speltinckx (BEL) bt Misja Van Vonderen (NED) 4-0; Manan Chandra (IND) bt Ahmed Aly Elsayed (USA) 4-0; Un-Nooh bt van Vonderen 4-0.
Group B: Yasin Merchant (IND) bt Khaled Elbakosh (LBA) 4-0; Martin O’Donnell (ENG) bt Omar Alkojah (SYR) 4-2; Merchant bt Bairaq Al-Urfy (SWE) 4-0; O’Donnell bt Elbakosh 4-0.
Group C: Anuj Uppal (IND) bt Blkasem Dabob (LBA) 4-0; Rodney Goggins (IRL) bt Andrei Vill (RUS) 4-0; Ehsan Heydari Nezhad (IRI) bt Goggins 4-2; Uppal bt Vill 4-1.
Group D: Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Atsutoshi Inoue (JPN) 4-0; Antti Silvo (FIN) bt Pascal Camenzind (SUI) 4-3; Yaser Elsherbiny (EGY) bt Marcin Nitschke (POL) 4-3; Nitschke bt Camenzind 4-1; Advani bt Elsherbiny 4-0; Silvo bt Inoue 4-0.
Group E: Jason Williams (CAN) bt Hisham Rashid Al Saqer (BRN) 4-3; Lee Walker (WAL) bt Mark Boyle (SCO) 4-2; Alok Kumar (IND) bt Sergelen Batdelger (MGL) 4-1; Walker bt Alok Kumar 4-0.
Group F: Mohamed Isa Ebrahim Shaikh (BRN) bt Joe Minici (AUS) 4-2; Fung Kwok Wai (HKG) bt Gregory Kopec (FRA) 4-1; Bernhard Bernhardsson (ISL) bt Lalrina Renthei (IND) 4-2.
Group G: Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (IRI) bt Saleh Mohammad (AFG) 4-0.
Group H: Mohamed Shehab (UAE) bt Ali Jaafar (FRA) 4-1; Pierre Jordaan (RSA) bt Yusuke Tanaka (JPN) 4-0.
Group J: Mark Tuite (IRL) bt Arjun Lavingia (TAN) 4-1; Krzysztof Wrobel (POL) bt Imran Shahzad (PAK) 4-3.
Group K: Steve Mifsud (AUS) bt Ali Abd Mohsin (IRQ) 4-0; Mohammed Al Joaker (UAE) bt Sergiy Isayenko (UKR) 4-1;
Group L: Craig Macgillivray (SCT) bt Noppon Saengkham (THA) 4-0; Antonis Poullos (CYP) bt Gary Gillard (NZL) 4-1;
Group M: Michael Wild (ENG) bt Vinnie Calabrese (AUS) 4-2; Rais Khan Sen Zahi (AFG) bt Muhammad Asif (PAK) 4-2.
Group N: Wael Talaat (EGY) bt Brendan O’Donoghue (IRL) 4-2; Toh Chee Keong (SIN) bt Firas Kamil Shaba (IRQ) 4-0.
Group R: Karam Fateima (SYR) bt Peter Bullen (BEL) 4-0.