If Irish cueist Vincent Muldoon had set the tone with a sizzling 135 clearance, India's Shahbaaz Adil Khan continued the good work by scoring the biggest upset of the 10-day extravaganza on Sunday morning.
The Indian qualifier, faced with a must-win situation to stay in the reckoning for a place in the knockout round of 32, outclassed the formidable Li Hang 4-2 in a Group D encounter. The Chinese ace had finished third in the previous edition in Manama, Bahrain, two years ago.
Low on confidence after three straight defeats, Shahbaaz, it appeared, was content on going through the motions. The Chinese lad, though nowhere near his best, took the scrappy opening frame of the best-of-seven-frame encounter.
For some strange reason, the Chinese, instead of stepping on the gas, allowed things to drift. That seemed to suit the 18-year-old Kolkatan just fine. Having paid the penalty for the lack of focus in his earlier games, Shahbaaz realised the importance of living in the present.
That realisation brought about a dramatic change. His cueing and ball-striking improved dramatically. And the result was quite dramatic too. Latching on to a generous offering, Shahbaaz knit together a brilliant 60 to level frame scores. The Chinese hit back by compiling a 44 in the next frame, but that didn't affect the Indian's rhythm. For, he replied with a 44 break himself in the fourth frame to make it 2-2. Well and truly on top of his game, Shahbaaz began to dictate terms. Though there were no big breaks thereafter, it was percentage snooker at its best. He kept the Chinese on a tight leash and made the capital when Hang erred. Shahbaaz made the miniscule but useful breaks and resorted to safety whenever he lost position.
After a frame-clinching 32 in the fifth, Shahbaaz closed out the match in the next frame with runs of 20 and 29. The Indian will have to win his last league against Hussein Alwatani of Bahrain by a big margin and then pray for favourable results in other group matches.
Meanwhile, Pushpender Singh kept his hopes alive by notching his third victory in five matches in Group A. The Delhi cueist defeated Arya Sohrabi of The Netherlands 4-1. He will have to win one of his two remaining matches to advance to the next stage.
Muldoon on fire
In a late night clash on Saturday, Muldoon fired a warning of sorts to his rivals en route to a crushing 4-0 win over Omar Alkojah in Group B.
The Ireland player came up with a blazing 135 clearance in the second frame before closing out the match with a flowing 98 clearance in the fourth. The match lasted a mere 43 minutes.
Results: Boys: Group A: Pushpender Singh (Ind) bt Arya Sohrabi (Ned) 4-1 (34-44, 62-34, 61-19, 72-23, 68-18); Michael Georgiou (Eng) bt Joseph Loughran (N Ire) 4-1; A Sohrabi bt Ali Al Obaidly (Qat) 4-2; Anda Zhang (Chn) bt Ahmed Ghulam Muanedi (Bah) 4-0.
Group B: Matt Williams (Eng) bt Balaji Reddy (Ind) 4-0 (62-34, 51-12, 73-1, 68-19); Vincent Muldoon (Ire) bt Omar Alkojah (Syr) 4-0 (78-14, 135 (135) -0, 59-9, 128 (98) -8); David Meier-Bailey (NZ) bt Yassen Hatem (Egt) 4-0; V Muldoon bt Abdul Rahman Saif Al Shamsi (UAE) 4-0.
Group C: Pramul Jantad (Thai) bt Younis Kuchey (Ind) 4-1 (58-26, 60-62, 75-9, 56-48, 73-27); Nedal Al-Bakshy (KSA) bt Khalid Ali Mohd Ali Kamali (UAE) 4-2; Lim Jia Sheng (Sing) bt Colvin O'Brien (Ire) 4-2.
Group D: Shahbaaz Adil Khan (Ind) bt Li Hang (CHn) 4-2 (36-64, 66 (60) -47, 47-61, 72-21, 78-28, 60-30); John Loh (Mal) bt El Agamy Ehaab (Egt) 4-0; Kristof Vermeiren (Bel) bt John Loh 4-1; Marc Davis (Sco) bt EA Ehaab 4-0.
Group E: El Shrbene Yasser (Egt) bt Ajay Bhushan (Ind) 4-2 (45-75, 77-16, 68-44, 74-56, 58-65, 78-38); Thor Chuan Leong (Mal) bt ES Yasser 4-1; Mariusz Sirko (Pol) bt Khamis Al Obaidly (Qat) 4-3; Robbie Williams (Eng) bt David Hogan (Ire) 4-3.
Group F: Christoffer Koba (Swe) bt Rishabh Pandya (Ind) 4-2 (73-34, 62-37, 21-67, 37-36, 37-70, 67-30); Hussein Mahmod (Bah) bt Abdullah Al-Sobhy (KSA) 4-0; Yu Delu (Chn) bt Daniel Faddoul (Aus) 4-0 (70-29, 81 (54) -8, 61-23, 116 (115) -0); Daniel Wells (Wales) bt R Pandya 4-0 (66-42, 58-48, 111 (111) -0, 66-26). 
Group G: Passakorn Suwannawat (Thai) bt Stephen Ellis (Wales) 4-1; Douglas Appelberg (Swe) bt Ryan Knott (NZ) 4-1; Jordan Brown (N Ire) bt D Appelberg 4-0.
Group H: Joeri Reisig (Ned) bt Giovanni Duquenois (Bel) 4-0; Michal Zielinski (Pol) bt Mohanna Al Obaidly (Qat) 4-0; Chinnakrit Yaowannasri (Thai) bt Adam Grabish (Aus) 4-0; David O'Sullivan (Ire) bt G Duquenois 4-2.
Girls:
Arantxa Sanchis (Ind) bt Parsan Keynezhad (Irn) 3-0 (65-29, 42-37, 78-16); Ng On Yee (CHK) bt Lavanya B (Ind) 3-0 (63-31, 59-26, 61-57); Ramona Belmont (NZ) bt Keerat Bhandal (Ind) 3-0 (59-14, 64-19, 81-10); Bi Zhuqing (Chn) bt A Keynezhad 3-0 (74-40, 89-38, 44-15).