Mehta in blazing touch

Advani, Chawla join in-form youngster in last eight

While it was a walk in the park for the young and in-form Mehta, Advani and Chawla had to score battling victories in their repective best-of-nine frames last-16 encounters at the Yeshwant Club.

Mehta, a silver and bronze medallist in the Guangzhou Asian Games, has lost just one frame in the four group games and the 25-year-old carried his touch into the first knock-out game against Iran’s Mohd Lababi.

Seeded first for the knock-out phase, the Maharastrian announced himself as a genuine title contender, crushing a hapless Lababi 5-0 (54-42, 65-1, 77-30, 63-24, 72-46).

Advani, who is yet to lay his hands on the continental trophy despite his seven world championships, fought tooth and nail before outlasting UAE’s Mohd Shehab 5-4 (27-71, 36-80, 84-6, 79-43, 34-57, 75-1, 94-0, 39-66, 70-19) in a marathon clash. Chawla too had to run the full distance in ousting  China’s Jin Long (Chn) 5-4 (95-29, 58-15, 74-43, 45-69, 60-25, 38-66, 33-80, 32-93, 74-28).

However, Manudev had to bite the dust, losing 3-5 to China’s Tian Pengfei. The quarterfinals have been scheduled for Thursday evening.

Results: Pre-quarterfinals: Aditya Mehta (Ind) bt Mohd Lababi (Ira) 5-0 (54-42, 65-1, 77-30, 63-24, 72-46); Mohd Rais Senzahi (Afg) bt Omar Alkojah (Syr) 5-3 (82-23, 40-66, 67-55, 83-38, 15-68, 42-71, 65-25, 69-1); Noppadol Sangnil (Tha) bt Lim Chun Kiat (Sin) 5-2 (86-5, 136(132)-1, 84-20, 49-56, 66-71, 75-39, 64-50); Kamal Chawla (Ind) bt Jin Long (Chn) 5-4 (95-29, 58-15, 74-43, 45-69, 60-25, 38-66, 33-80, 32-93, 74-28); Shahid Aftab (Pak) bt Mohd Al Joaker (UAE) 5-0 (62-48, 61-49, 68-57, 73-68, 61-30); Tian Pengfei (Chn) bt IH Manudev (Ind) 5-3 (88(82)-1, 64-67, 67-13, 54-16, 66-15, 0-87(87), 7-82, 72-32); Passakorn Suwannawat (Tha) bt Fung Kwok Wai (HK) 5-2 (1-79, 55-51, 63-13, 25-82, 76-33, 79-7, 60-18); Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Mohd Shehab (UAE) 5-4 (27-71, 36-80, 84-6, 79-43, 34-57, 75-1, 94-0, 39-66, 70-19).