Asian Snooker Championship 2022 | Pankaj Advani off to flying start, registers two wins on first day
Ace India cueist Pankaj Advani scored two victories on the first day of the Asian Snooker Championship on Monday to get his campaign off to a good start. Defending champion Advani is in Group A with Qatar's Mansour Alobaidli, Sri Lanka's Mohamed Thaha Irshath, and Pakistan's Ahsan Ramzan.
Advani, a multiple-time world snooker and billiards champion, won his opening match 4-2 over Mohamed Thaha Irshath. The Indian began with a 52-break, winning the opening frame but losing the second.
Later, he won the following two frames to take a 3-1 lead, and Thaha responded with a 55-point break to close the gap. Advani, on the other hand, won the sixth frame by a wide margin to finish the match 4-2.
After winning the first frame, the 36-year-old from Pune was in a completely different level in his second match against Mansour Alobaidli, making breaks of 50 and 58 in the second frame, 110 in the third, and 75 in the fourth frame to finish the game in under an hour.
"(I am) Happy to start the Asian Championship on a winning note. My young opponent was high on confidence after two good performances in the World Championships (Junior and Senior) so it was never going to be easy. Glad to get over the line," Pankaj was quoted as saying in a media statement.
The championship will be held at the QBSF Academy.