Advani drubs Ryan to enter quarters

Title contenders Pankaj Advani, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao delivered serious statements of their intent while marching into the quarterfinals of the Seaways IBSF World Snooker Championship here on Thursday.

While Indian ace Advani found his devastating touch that had been lacking so far with a 5-0 drubbing of Ryan Causton, 14-year-old Chinese teenage sensation Bingtao showed the snooker skills of a seasoned professional with a 5-1 defeat of Varun Madan at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. Advani and Bingtao will now lock horns in Friday’s quarterfinal in what promises to be a mouth-watering clash.

While Advani and Bingtao sparkled in their respective triumphs, it was Xintong who left the venue hogging all the limelight with another fine performance. Wielding his cue stick like a magic wand, the 17-year-old Chinese sensation crushed a hapless Lucky Vatnani 5-0 in just an hour and 15 minutes. Manan Chandra was the only other Indian left in the draw with the Delhiite notching up a 5-3 win over Lukas Kleckers.

Advani hasn’t been at his best in this tournament, struggling to cope with the ‘tough conditions.’ Having spent a week now, the 12-time world champion finally appeared to have got a grip of things, rising to the occasion in stellar fashion. Playing at the TV table and with a sizeable audience watching him from the stands, the 29-year-old dished out an authoritative performance that fans have got so accustomed to.

His potting was top-notch, reeling off some stunning long-rangers and a handful of beautifully timed slow pots that rolled in delicately into the pockets. There were rarely any errors too as Causton was reduced to a mere spectator for the better part of the contest.

The two things that had Advani irritated here were the constant clicking of a couple of photographers and the talking from the stands. While he displayed his emotions at the start of the match, he accepted them as part of occupational hazards to steamroll the Englishman.

Advani kick-started with a 44-point break before smashing a 55-point clearance to take the opening frame comfortably. Causton, with some experience of playing with the big boys back home, hit back with a 45-point break in the second but missed a yellow ball pot to the bottom-right pocket.

Advani made some small visits to the table before staging an incredible rally. Trailing 28-61, he potted the final red, took a pink for it, and then cleared the table to inch 2-0 ahead. That comeback gave him plenty of confidence and the Indian switched gears in the third with a 51-point break. Totally in command and set for a century, Advani missed a regulation red pot and Causton then snookered the Indian behind the black.

He fouled a couple of times and was played and missed two times later when Causton had him snookered again. Well ahead despite the four fouls, Advani kept his composure to seal the frame and wasted very little time in the final two frames. In the fourth he posted his third half-century break in the fourth frame and then completely shut the door on Causton with brilliant flourish in the fifth.

“It’s always nice to win the night matches early. It’s good to be in your bed rather than slugging it out!” said Advani.
DH News Service
Results: Men: (round of 16): Zhao Xintong (Chn) bt Lucky Vatnani (Ind) 5-0 (71 (65)-16, 81 (60)-8, 73 (56)-26, 68 (66)-2, 76-30); Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Ryan Causton (Eng) 5-0 (99 (55)-9, 62-61, 75 (51)-44, 68 (52)-21, 73-2); Yao Bingtao (Chn) bt Varun Madan (Ind) 5-1 (83 (66)-28, 64-10, 39-70, 109 (109)-14, 81-12, 64 (54)-9); Adrian Ridley (Aus) bt Shivam Arora 5-1 (84-31, 90 (89)-17, 68-35, 44-86, 75-52, 63-41); Muhammad Sajjad (Pak) bt Thor Chuan Leong (Mas) 5-2 (27-74, 62 (51)-69, 76 (62)-22, 63-23, 61 (52)-24, 133 (116)-0, 80-16); Manan Chandra (Ind) bt Lukas Kleckers (Ger) 5-3 (53-66, 70-42, 47-31, 70-43, 111 (104)-20, 9-49, 16-57, 80-33); Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Tha) bt Matthew Bolton (Aus) 5-3 (38-77 (67), 62-41, 65-64, 79 (57) -45, 60-50, 36-75 (57), 20-92 (74), 84 (60) -5); Amir Sarkhosh (Irn) bt Brijesh Damani (Ind) 5-3 (6-73, 14-75, 66-26, 49-65, 69-41, 65-21, 62-25, 54-23).
Round of 32: M Chandra bt Nick Jennings (Eng) 5-3 (61-42, 2-94 (84), 65-41, 67-65 (63), 79 (59) -31, 38-90 (70), 51-54, 70 (51) -17); L Kleckers bt Mohd Reza Hassan (Mas) 5-2 (114 (103) -8, 53-45, 85 (72) -0, 57-55, 57-68, 3-79, 71-50); L Vantani bt Jamie Clarke (Wal) 5-2 (60-44, 66-19, 65-35, 14-74 (67), 60-24, 13-77 (68), 72-1); M Sajjad bt Duane Jones (Wal) 5-2 (60-24, 76-43, 68-8, 25-62, 1-116 (83), 90 (90) -0, 80-4); Y Bingtao bt Gareth Allen (Wal) 5-3 (38-70 (70), 22-75, 114 (89) -5, 72-6, 65-61, 0-134 (134), 67-42, 65-0); Z Xintong bt Fabio Anderson Luersen (Bra) 5-3 (37-92, 52-19, 30-69 (55), 99 (68) -6, 49-90, 69 (56) -18, 62-29, 62-48); A Ridley bt Sundeep Gulati (Ind) 5-4 (31-49, 73-25,  77-50, 16-92 (92), 29-77, 64-50, 59-32, 53-60, 70-21); S Arora bt Lee Chun Wai (HK) 5-3 (57-39, 55-68, 64 (64) -0, 71-78, 68-60, 84-67, 22-66, 92 (88) -45); P Advani (Ind) bt Laxman Rawat (Ind) 5-2 (127 (126) -0, 19-85, 65-47, 81-43, 32-69, 71-57, 65 (52) -30); R Causton bt Boonyarit Keattiun (Thai) 5-2 (62 (53)-39, 59-51, 64-24, 0-96 (96), 40-87 (71), 71 (51) -32, 102 (51) -8); T Chuan Leong bt Keen Hoo Moh (Mas) 5-1 (82 (71) -31, 50-17, 59-62, 56-22, 52-4, 62-49); V Madan bt Soheil Vahedi (Irn) 5-1 (90 (90) -6, 87 (59) -51, 16-79, 76-52, 67 (61) -56 (56), 68 (67) -14); K Lertsattayathorn bt Chau Hon Man (HK) 5-3 (8-67, 57-58, 87 (64) -41, 55-19, 98 (69) -49, 15-69, 83 (83) -0, 90 (51) -0); M Bolton bt Chi Wai Au (HK) 5-0 (98 (98) -0, 61 (53) -1, 67-33, 78-1, 71-6); A Sarkhosh bt Michael Judge (Ire) 5-3 (47-75, 24-93, 64-36, 67 (60) -37, 88 (70) -44, 103 (56) -0, 8-80 (70), 50-1); B Damani bt Muhamed Shehab (UAE) 5-3 (35-75, 37-85 (70), 85-51, 63-60, 57-40, 50 (50) -73, 71-2, 68-49).

Women: Round of 16: Wendy Jans (Bel) bt Amee Kamani (Ind) 4-0 (88 (48)-24, 72-35, 60-18, 65-38); Ng On Yee (HK) bt Arantxa Sanchis (Ind) 4-0 (74-31, 67-26, 56-48, 68-25); Siripapron Nuanthakhamjan (Tha) bt Tatjana Vasiljeva (Lat) 4-2 (45-59, 65-29, 63-60, 42-36, 47-56, 83-29); Siraphat Chitchomnart (Tha) bt Jessica Woods (Aus) 4-1 (51-24, 78-37, 69-21, 36-56, 62-9); Anastasia Nechaeva (Rus) bt Vidya Pillai (Ind) 4-2 (64-18, 79-24, 55-68, 75-70, 11-69, 58-34).

Round of 24: Anastasia N bt Judy Walia (Ind) 4-2 (64-29, 48-62, 69-32, 93 (64) -18, 61-53); Ka Kai Wan bt Varshaa Sanjeev (Ind) 4-2 (73-7, 38-60, 53-19, 9-59, 56-20, 53-17); Siraphat C bt Sue Martin (Aus) 4-0 (49-12, 56-25, 59-15, 68-35); Floriza A bt Ip Wan Ij Jaique (HK) 4-2 (55-60, 72-60, 32-84, 68-8, 55-45, 65-27); So Man Yan bt Denise Santos (Phi) 4-1 (57-45, 35-72, 85-35, 70-28, 55-19); Wendy J bt Neeta Sanghvi (Ind) 4-1 (22-46, 49-33, 70-18, 78-35, 68-20); Tatjana V bt Carmelita Yumito (Bra) 4-1 (49-45, 51-76, 63-12, 74-34, 61-17); Arantxa S bt Neena Praveen (Ind) 4-1 (43-84, 54-37, 66-40, 61-5, 66-46).