Advani trounced former Asian snooker champion Merchant 108-08, 99-00, 67-53, 78(78)-22, 80(76)-63, while PSPB’s Kothari upstaged Chawla of Railways 90-67, 76-40, 30-70, 81-34, 53-27, 00-77, 50-71, 75-12.
Advani, who defeated Geet Sethi 5-4 (60-57, 22-71, 40-87, 64-52, 93(93)-01, 34-92, 60-35, 28-62, 84-0) in the quarterfinals, played a flawless game in the semis as he recorded a break of 56 in the first frame and then of 69 in the second. It was a close affair in the third frame but Advani pocketed the vital pink ball in the colours stage to take a 3-0 lead.
Advani faced some stiff challenge in the fifth in the best of nine frames as Merchant fought tooth and nail but his efforts proved insufficient in the end.
The other semifinal between Sourav and Kamal was a well contested tie. Sourav took the first two frames with facile potting to surge ahead. Kamal reduced the deficit by wresting the third but Sourav was equal to the task when he pocketed the fourth to lead again by 3-1 before wrapping up the contest.
Results: Semifinals: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Yasin Merchant (Mah) 5-0 (108-08, 99-00, 67-53, 78(78)-22, 80(76)-63); Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Kamal Chawla (Rly) 5-4 (90-67, 76-40, 30-70, 81-34, 53-27, 00-77, 50-71, 75-12). Quarterfinals: Pankaj (PSPB) bt Geet Sethi (Gj) 5-4 (60-57, 22-71, 40-87, 64-52, 93(93)-01, 34-92, 60-35, 28-62, 84-0); Yasin (Mah) bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 5-1 (69-62, 70-28, 97(97)-00, 65-26, 20-75, 53-19); Sourav (PSPB) bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) 5-2 (53-48, 06-86(84), 57-41, 92-0, 27-67, 101-26, 82-25); Kamal (Rly) bt Aditya Mehta (PSPB) 5-0 (61-25, 59-18, 92-62, 65-22, 64-27).
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks