Advani notches win, Sethi loses

Advani made short work of Billy Bousfield of England 3-1 (150-70, 151-61, 37-150, 151-10) and then blanked Chul Ho Hwang of Korea in straight frames 151-31, 150-125, 150-60 to virtually seal a pre-quarterfinal berth.

The biggest draw of the championship was, however, the first round clash between Geet Sethi and nine-time champion Mike Russell of England and it turned out to be a shocker for the 49-year-old Indian.

The 41-year-old Englishman played as if he was in a hurry as he raced to 150-49, 151-9, 150-58 win in less than 90 minutes. Russell went on to win his second league match, beating Min Hu Baek of Korea 150-89, 152-29, 150-8.

Sethi then slumped to another defeat, this time against Myanmar’s Nay Thway Oo to hamper his qualification chances further.

Among the other Indians in the fray, Dhruv Sitwala, Rupesh Shah, Ashok Shandilya and Alok Kumar made a sound start to their campaigns by winning their opening two matches.
Bangalore’s B Bhaskar won his first match,  posting a comfortable 3-0 win over South Korea’s Chul Ho Hwang (151-14, 151-36, 151-67).