<p>Former champion Pankaj Advani marched into the semifinals of the National Snooker Championship following a lop-sided win over Sundeep Gulati here on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Advani, who skipped last year’s bash owing to his professional tour committments, primed himself nicely to regain his crown after polishing off Gulati 5-1 (80-25, 38-76, 63-39, 67-37, 72 (63)-16, 90-2).<br /><br />In the semifinals, Advani will take on Dharminder Lilly, who edged out Shivam Arora 5-4.<br /><br />In the women’s pre-quarterfinals, the trio of Vidya Pillai, Chitra Magimairaj and R Umadevi Nagaraj posted fine wins to keep the State hopes alive of landing the spoils for another year.<br /><br />Results (snooker): Men (quarterfinals): Kamal Chawla (Rly) bt Laxman Rawat (Mah) 5-3 (74-43, 35-65, 67-24, 67 (62)-2, 28-68, 45-55, 82 (50)-4, 93 (76)-0); Brijesh Damani (PSPB) bt Faisal Khan (Rly) 5-1 (69-24, 59-49, 58-52, 49-73, 69-60, 55-13); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Sundeep Gulati (Del) 5-1 (80-25, 38-76, 63-39, 67-37, 72 (63)-16, 90-2); Dharminder Lilly (Pun) bt Shivam Arora (Bih) 5-4 (67 (37)-57, 18-73, 28-69, 40-65, 72-47, 73-59, 38-78, 76-52, 81-9).<br /><br />Semifinal line-up: Kamal Chawla vs Brijesh Damani; Pankaj Advani vs Dharminder Lilly.<br /><br />Women (pre-quarterfinals): Vidya Pillai (Kar) bt Judy Walia (Kar) 2-1 (40-74, 69-48, 66-15); R Umadevi Nagaraj (Kar) bt Neeta Kothari (WB) 2-0 (44-32, 60-09); Amee Kamani (Mah) bt Varsha Sanjeev (Kar) 2-1 (54-37, 29-57, 52-21); Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Sunita Khandelwal (MP) 2-0 (48-13, 64-34); Chitra Magimairaj (Kar) bt Indira Gowda (Kar) 2-0 (71-48, 51-9); Arantxa Sanchis (Mah) bt Suniti Damani (WB) 2-1 (20-55, 57-13, 56-30); Neeta Sanghvi (Mah) bt Heena Khandelwal (Mah) 2-0 (66-43, 49-43); Neena Praveen (TN) bt Jagruti Patel (Mah) 2-0 (75-25, 53-20).</p>
<p>Former champion Pankaj Advani marched into the semifinals of the National Snooker Championship following a lop-sided win over Sundeep Gulati here on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Advani, who skipped last year’s bash owing to his professional tour committments, primed himself nicely to regain his crown after polishing off Gulati 5-1 (80-25, 38-76, 63-39, 67-37, 72 (63)-16, 90-2).<br /><br />In the semifinals, Advani will take on Dharminder Lilly, who edged out Shivam Arora 5-4.<br /><br />In the women’s pre-quarterfinals, the trio of Vidya Pillai, Chitra Magimairaj and R Umadevi Nagaraj posted fine wins to keep the State hopes alive of landing the spoils for another year.<br /><br />Results (snooker): Men (quarterfinals): Kamal Chawla (Rly) bt Laxman Rawat (Mah) 5-3 (74-43, 35-65, 67-24, 67 (62)-2, 28-68, 45-55, 82 (50)-4, 93 (76)-0); Brijesh Damani (PSPB) bt Faisal Khan (Rly) 5-1 (69-24, 59-49, 58-52, 49-73, 69-60, 55-13); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Sundeep Gulati (Del) 5-1 (80-25, 38-76, 63-39, 67-37, 72 (63)-16, 90-2); Dharminder Lilly (Pun) bt Shivam Arora (Bih) 5-4 (67 (37)-57, 18-73, 28-69, 40-65, 72-47, 73-59, 38-78, 76-52, 81-9).<br /><br />Semifinal line-up: Kamal Chawla vs Brijesh Damani; Pankaj Advani vs Dharminder Lilly.<br /><br />Women (pre-quarterfinals): Vidya Pillai (Kar) bt Judy Walia (Kar) 2-1 (40-74, 69-48, 66-15); R Umadevi Nagaraj (Kar) bt Neeta Kothari (WB) 2-0 (44-32, 60-09); Amee Kamani (Mah) bt Varsha Sanjeev (Kar) 2-1 (54-37, 29-57, 52-21); Meenal Thakur (Mah) bt Sunita Khandelwal (MP) 2-0 (48-13, 64-34); Chitra Magimairaj (Kar) bt Indira Gowda (Kar) 2-0 (71-48, 51-9); Arantxa Sanchis (Mah) bt Suniti Damani (WB) 2-1 (20-55, 57-13, 56-30); Neeta Sanghvi (Mah) bt Heena Khandelwal (Mah) 2-0 (66-43, 49-43); Neena Praveen (TN) bt Jagruti Patel (Mah) 2-0 (75-25, 53-20).</p>