Advani, Chawla in quarterfinals
Snooker IBSF World Championship: Bangalorean edges out Scotland’s Macgillivray; Alok bows out in pre-quarters
Home hope Pankaj Advani kept the tri-colour flying in typically authoritative fashion at the IBSF World Snooker Championship on an emotion-soaked day that witnessed the last acts of an Indian legend.
Hours after crushing Ireland’s Mark Tuite 5-0 (73 (41)-24, 77 (47)-36, 61-23, 92 (42)-0, 57-43) in a round-of-32 fixture, 26-year-old Advani stormed into the quarterfinals with a clinical 5-3 (86 (60)-1, 8-86, 104 (104)-0, 5-82 (70), 54-18, 93 (93)-4, 10-66, 69-15) dismantling of the dangerous Craig Macgillivray at the KSBA hall here on Wednesday.
“It was a really tough match and I am mentally drained out,” said 2003 champion Advani, who will be meeting Peter Bullen of Belgium in the last-eight clash on Friday morning. “I knew I had a tough match and it was very important for me to be on the cue right from the beginning. I hope to carry on the same form.”
Kamal Chawla later joined compatriot Advani in the quarterfinals, produced a stirring comeback in marathon tussle against Alok Kumar, outlasting the reigning Asian Billiards champion 5-4 (66-1, 4-120 (58, 58), 26-66 (50), 68-59 (51),37-67, 23-76, 69 (69)-20, 67-31, 57-12).
Having hardly had to break a sweat against the highly erratic Tuite who literally gifted the match on a platter, Advani was made to work hard by the seasoned Macgillivray. But, potting immaculately and producing a brilliant exhibition of safe play, Advani rose to the challenge superbly.
Advani produced a break of 60 to take a 1-0 lead before Macgillivray hit back in the second frame to bring things level at 1-1. Realising that he cannot allow break-builder Macgillivray time at the table, Advani conjured his third century break (104) of the tournament to restore his lead.
Macgillivray then came up with the perfect riposte, unleashing his brilliant potting skills with a 70-point show to seal the fourth frame as things heated up. With both players giving nothing away, the fifth frame was more a cat and mouse game, Advani sneaking ahead to a 3-2 lead with some intelligent display.
Offered a chance to clear the table when Macgillivray missed a regulation red pot in the sixth frame, Advani came out firing on all cylinders, and looked well on course for another shot at century before being let down by the luck. However, with a 92 the Bangalorean inched closer for a quarterfinal berth.
Macgillivray delayed the proceedings a bit by winning the seventh frame. But with Advani playing percentage snooker to perfection in the eighth, the writing was on the wall for Macgillivray as the Bangalorean wrapped things up by potting the penultimate red at 86-15.
Meanwhile, veteran Yasin Merchant suffered a heart-breaking 4-5 (44-108, 90-16, 0-90, 21-83, 128 (127)-9, 18-70, 70-7, 95-13, 1-69) loss to Australian Steven Mifsud that brought an end to an illustrious career.
Looking calm and composed despite knowing that a defeat could mean goodbye at a place where it all began for him 25 years ago, Merchant produced some vintage stuff to raise visions of a glorious farewell, only to be shut out by the 2002 champion.
