Advani crashes out

Pankaj Advani’s hopes of making it to the World Snooker Championship were dashed after the ace cueist lost his third-round qualifier against Robbie Williams on Monday.

Pankaj, 28, could not stand the English test as Robbie outplayed the Bangalore lad 10-7.

Leading 7-4 in the best-of-19 frames, Advani lost track after the English pro won 6 frames on the trot.

Advani, who has an IBSF World Snooker title in his kitty, had only two breaks in the entire match with 17 frames played.

Chasing his maiden World title, Williams, 27, has one more hurdle to cross before he makes the cut for the tournament’s main draw, starting on Saturday.

“I’m very relieved and pleased with myself,” said Williams. “In snooker terms, I’m getting on a bit at 25 and I knew this was one of my last chances to get on the tour. I have come very close to getting on before, which made me more determined. My ultimate goal is to get into the top-16.”