Advani wards off Khaneja threat
Former champion Pankaj Advani clawed his way back from the jaws of defeat as rest of the top guns made a sound start in the 79th National snooker championship here on Monday.
Advani, who on Friday captured his sixth National billiards title in thumping fashion, was down two frames to love against the unheralded Rajat Khaneja of Chandigarh.
However, the four-time winner bounced back in splendid style, scampering to a 3-2 (10-75, 10-91 (65), 88 (88)-8, 60-25, 61-16) victory at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana.
Defending champion Aditya Mehta, 2011 runner-up Alok Kumar, IH Manudev, Manan Chandra, Kamal Chawla and Devendra Joshi made an emphatic start with all scoring lop-sided 3-0 victories.
Results: Group A: Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Sumesh Turki (J&K) 3-0 (84-28, 90 (90)-0, 64 (54)-14); Aneesh Saini (HR) bt Yogesh Sharma (Mah) 3-0 (61-29, 60-42, 78-64). Group B: Alok Kumar (PSPB) bt Peter Lalrintluanga (Miz) 3-0 (61-6, 48-34, 55-2); Bharat Sisodiya (MP) bt Lalsangzela (Miz) 3-1 (44-53, 61-56, 62-27, 63-52).
Group C: Bhadresh Panchal (Guj) bt Neeraj Kumar (Rly) 3-1 (78-46, 38-59, 62-29, 70-6); Brijesh Damani (WB) bt Sajan Bopanna (Kar) 3-0 (70-16, 62-4, 59-49).
Group D: IH Manudev (Kar) bt Pratik Jain (MP) 3-0 (91-33, 82-14, 69-26); M Yogesh Kumar (Kar) bt Sarang Shroff (Mah) 3-2 (22-87, 32-71, 72-26, 62-31, 76-36). Group E: Kamal Chawla (Rly) bt Anuj Sharma (Goa) 3-0 (80-22, 72-35, 110 (61)-7); Anand Raghuvanshi (Mah) bt Kunal Manchanda (Raj) 3-0 (50-39, 61-11, 69-32).
Group F: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Rajat Khaneja (Chd) 3-2 (10-75, 10-91 (65), 88 (88)-8, 60-25, 61-16); Vivek Chopra (PB) bt Dhawal Mackwana (Guj) 3-0 (60-15, 67-9, 63-42).
Group G: Manan Chandra (PSPB) bt Dhruv Varma (Pun) 3-0 (64-21, 78-33, 93 (59)-3); Rishit Jain (Del) bt Jeet Kishore Das (Ori) 3-0 (70-21, 73-58, 66-45).
Group H: Rafath Habib (Rly) bt Sukumar Barman (Asm) 3-0 (88 (50)-1, 61-20, 92 (91)-2).
Group I: Rupesh Shah (PSPB) bt Mridul Das (Asm) 3-1 (28-58, 67-63, 72-17, 53-43); Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt J Varun Kumar (TN) 3-1 (64-54, 70-37, 30-73, 78-62).
Group J: Sumit Talwar (Chd) bt AR Arjun (Kar) 3-0 (79 (51)-2, 54-17, 63-43); Sumit Talwar (Chd) bt Deepak A (Kar) 3-2 (49-60, 32-47, 50-42, 61-24, 63-1); Vinayak Agarwal (UP) bt AR Arjun (Kar) 3-0 (53-15, 94-60, 53-46).
Group K: Pushpinder Singh (Rly) bt Rahul Bhargava (Raj) 3-1 (64-1, 78-31, 30-58, 76 (54)-12); Vipin Premi (UP) bt Rahul Bhargava (Raj) 3-1 (61-50, 45-54, 59-8, 56-40).
Group L: Devendra Joshi (PSPB) bt Rupesh Chauhan (HP) 3-0 (68-34, 70 (69)-1, 63 (40)-7); Shoaib Khan (WB) bt Rupesh Chauhan (HP) 3-0 (50-04, 55-15, 70-9); Durga Prasad (Rly) bt Akshay Kumar (UP) 3-2 (62-53, 66-23, 52-83, 41-61, 60-22).
Group M: Shahbaaz Adil Khan (PSPB) bt Valney Gomendis (Goa) 3-0 (97 (75)-0, 86-1,
66-22); Shankar Rao (AP) bt Kamal Rohmetra (J&K) 3-2 (63-19, 71-14, 30-72, 79-93, 81-38); Senthil (TN) bt Valney Gomendis (Goa) 3-0 (54-47, 65-26, 76-1).
Group N: Imran Ganj (TN) bt Sundeep Gulati (Del) 3-0 (22, 79 (51), 24-87, 12-77); Lalrina Renthlei (Miz) bt Rishabh Pandya (Mah) 3-1 (50-57, 68-34, 59-43, 58-57).
Group O: Siddharth Parikh (Rly) bt Hasan Badami (Mah) 3-2 (14-71 (70), 1-58 (53), 58-23, 69-33, 79-49); Dhvaj Haria (Guj) bt Rushabh Jain (Mah) 3-1 (69-8, 71-61, 40-48, 53-40).
Group P: Faisal Khan (Rly) bt Anupam Jha (Bih) 3-0 (58-31, 74-4, 90-21); R Girish (Rly) bt Manish Jain (WB) 3-0 (84-33, 64 (50)-23, 64-29); Rovin D'Souza (Mah) bt Anupam Jha (Bih) 3-0 (71-11, 67-22, 89-9).
