Seemingly in command, the 25-year-old Indian brushed aside compatriot Devendra Joshi 818-469 to notch up his third straight victory in Group A and seal his place in the last-eight stage.
The Bangalorean will face Kolkata’s Sourav Kothari, who crushed Englishman Martin Goodwill 718-262, in the final group battle on Friday that is expected to decide the pool winner. Advani posted a double century break of 209 and two century breaks of 134 and 101.
Five-time champion Geet Sethi also maintained a clean slate, prevailing over Rupesh Shah 461-441 in a thrilling Group B encounter. It was Sethi’s third win from as many matches as the veteran looks set for place in the quarterfinals.
Earlier on Wednesday, Robert Marshall provided the biggest shock of the day when he upset nine-time champion Mike Russell 614-413.
A solid break of 308 was good enough for the Englishman to beat the challenge of Qatari Russell.
Results: On Thursday: Group A: Sourav Kothari (Ind): 718 (206, 96, 58, 86) bt Martin Goodwill (Eng): 262 (51); Pankaj Advani (Ind): 818 (134, 95, 209, 101, 56) bt Devendra Joshi (Ind): 469 (105, 84).
Group B: Matthew Sutton (Eng): 385 (97, 108, 83) bt Siddharth Parikh (Ind): 351 (111, 87); Geet Sethi (Ind): 461 (63, 65, 82, 128 (unf)) bt Rupesh Shah (Ind): 441 (230).
Group C: Phil Mumford (Eng): 730 (63, 92, 71, 93, 65, 66) bt Mark Hirst (Eng): 347 (82); Dhruv Sitwala (Ind): 593 (87, 100, 88, 62, 73) bt David Causier (Eng): 498 (91, 60, 52, 143).
Group D: Robert Marshall (Eng): 730 (63, 92, 71, 93, 65, 66) bt Gary Rogers (Eng): 148; Mike Russell (Qat): 719 (66, 100, 106, 222) bt Peter Gilchrist (Sin): 393 (117, 129).
On Wednesday:
Group A: P Advani: 684 (65, 189, 214, 61, 65) bt M Goodwill: 637 (62, 58, 88, 141, 86); D Joshi: 839 (98, 145, 53, 65) bt Sushrat Pandia (Ind): 299.
Group B: R Shah: 618 (194, 115, 102, 50, 75) bt M Sutton: 414 (61, 59, 55); G Sethi: 1223 (131, 98, 452, 73, 52, 74) bt Bem French (Eng): 186.
Group C: D Sitwala: 533 (82, 58, 95, 51 (unf)) bt P Mumford: 480 (86, 96); D Causier: 911 (97, 138, 340, 86) bt Ashok Shandilya (Ind): 391 (195).
Group D: R Marshall: 614 (308) bt M Russell: 413 (100, 149); P Gilchrist: 961 (94, 117, 204, 60, 86, 57, 87, 60, 50) bt Ian Williamson (Eng): 275 (74, 71).
