Advani, Sethi march into quarters

Sitwala powers past Gilchrist; Bhaskar bows to Myanmars Kyaw Oo

Eight-time world champion Sethi beat Tao Hoon Jung of Korea 1950-249 as he scored two five-tons and three centuries in compiling the maximum points during any three-hour match at the World championship.

Advani got the better of Aidan Murray of Ireland 1175-598 with a double ton and two centuries at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana Club. Dhruv Sitwala won one of the biggest matches of the Group C and defeated former world champion Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 1039-942 in a game that the Indian managed to keep within his reach. Riding on a triple century break, Sitwala scored breaks of 331, 198, 162 and 146 in his third league match where he had just 15 visits to the table.

Gilchrist was no pushover either. He reeled out breaks of 408 and 257 to make the match engaging but on the table for his 16th visit, the clock signaled time out. With two wins from Tuesday, and a match to go against Min Hu Baek, Gilchrist should make it as second player from the group to the quarterfinals.

There was just one reverse for India in the morning session when cheeky Myanmarian Kyaw Oo, former Asian Championship runner-up, defeated in-form Bhaskar Balachandra 1001-522, scoring three centuries and a double century to subdue the Indian.

Devendra Joshi also lost, but then his opponent was newly crowned Point-format champion Mike Russell and the outcome was more than expected. Englishman Russell collated yet another seven-ton break when he produced 753 against Joshi, who was completely overwhelmed by the onslaught.

Russell had a double ton worth 243 and three centuries as he won 1644-671 as Joshi managed just one century during the thrashing. Ashok Shandilya again lived dangerously before winning against Myanmarese Na Thway Oo 641-613.

Results: Morning session:  Kyaw Oo (Mya) bt Bhaskar Balachandra (Ind): 1001-522 2. Geet Sethi (Ind) bt Tae Hoon Jung (Kor): 1950-249 3. Ashok Shandilya (Ind) bt Na Thway Oo (Mya): 641-202 4. Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Aidan Murray (Irl): 1175-75. 5. Mike Russell (Eng) bt Devendra Joshi (Ind) 1644-671 6. Rupesh Shah (Ind) bt Abdul Omar (Sri) 1582-294. 7. Dhruv Sitwala (Ind) bt Peter Gilchrist (Sin) 1039-942 8. Gary Oliver (Nzl) beat Min Hu Baek (Kor) 766-442.