By Anand Philar,IANS,
Hyderabad: Pankaj Advani dropped three frames to Welshman Philip Williams before pulling through 4-3 in the men’s league while Geet Sethi suffered a stunning defeat against Clive Thomson of New Zealand in the Masters section on the third day of the ONGC-IBSF World snooker championship, here Tuesday.
On the distaff side, India No.2 Vidya Pillai roared to her third win, as did Anuja Chandra and Chitra Magimairajan in their respective groups to strengthen their chances of progressing to the next round.
Advani, the 24-year old from Bangalore and among the title favourites, despite notching a break of 106, struggled against Williams whose slow pace nearly did the Indian star in.
But of more significance was that it was Advani’s third win in a row in Group A and all but confirmed his progress to the knock-out phase as the top four from each of the six-player 16 groups move to the round of 64.
The only bright part in Advani’s win today was the century run that ended on the black after he took the last red. “I took the eyes off the ball,” said Advani who thus missed out on a possible 140 as all the colours were on their respective spots.
“I would say that it was a well-constructed break as I had to pick my way through the reds. It was a satisfying run,” opined Advani, who otherwise spent much of the long match that was halted at 3-3 and completed on another table, chaffing at the bit. “I can’t say I played well, but I am happy that I pulled through.”
Likewise, Yasin Merchant, the former Asian and National champion, went through the grind to post his third consecutive win with a 4-2 result against Ahmed Aly of the United States in Group C.
Aditya Mehta, the promising 24-year old from Mumbai, fought off a headache and Malaysia’s Thor Chuan Leong for a 4-3 decision and his second consecutive win in Group P.
Despite feeling unwell, Mehta, who was down 1-3, posted a break of 90 that he could have extended past the 100-mark but for a miss on the black with three reds still on the table in the fifth frame. “That break helped me to stay in the match. In the decider, he sold me the last brown and I was lucky to get out of a couple of snookers. It was a scrappy game,” said Mehta who received medication after the third frame.
In Group D, Manan Chandra from Delhi, had an easy outing against Austrian schoolboy Alexander Gauss in winning 4-0 to keep himself in the reckoning as did Alok Kumar who posted his second victory late last night by blanking Mekdad Murad Taqi of Kuwait 4-0.
Meanwhile, Rupesh Shah, the Ahmedabad-based cueist, lost his Group L match 2-4 to China’s Tian Pengfei in an encounter that witnessed three century breaks. Pengfei, the double gold medallist at the 2006 Asian Games, knocked in 115 and 106 in the opening two frames and Shah hit back with a 115, but the 22-year old Chinese held his nerve to survive the Indian’s challenge.
England’s Alfie Burden, a former professional, also caused a buzz by putting together two century breaks (112 and 109) to follow his 118 against Pengfei on the first day. Burden brushed aside Erkis Malderis of Canada 4-0 for his second win and going by the form he is in, the 32-year old Londoner has emerged as a hot favourite for the title.
In the afternoon session, Sethi, holder of eight World titles and a finalist in this tournament last year, suffered an unexpected loss. “I played badly and was not aligning to my shots. But I would say that Thomson played well,” said Sethi.