Pankaj Advani progresses into round of 16 of National six-Red Snooker
Pankaj Advani had a domineering win over Pandurangaiah by five frames to nil as he advanced into the round of 16 of the 7th National 6-Red Snooker Championship, on Thursday. Other players who progressed were former Asian billiards champion Sourav Kothari and Ishpreet Singh Chadha.
Defending champion Advani had a slow start to the game as he was seen trailing in the first frame before he cleared the table in the end to clinch the frame. After he managed it, the 18-time world champion did not have to look back, as he took the next four frames to win within an hour. Apart from Advani, Sourav Kothari also had an easy game as he defeated Lucky Vatnani 5-1.
The shorter format of the game also saw some upsets on its way as Varun Madan managed to defeat former Asian billiards champion Dhruv Sitwala 5-3 while Ishpreet Singh Chadha beat former world and Asian champion Rupesh Shah 5-4, before taking the final frame 41-27.
It was a close game that saw Chadha taking the first two frames quickly with attacking play before Shah returned strongly in the third frame having a brilliant break of 71. Chadha wasn’t the one to sit back and he quickly retaliated by winning the next two consecutive frames to lead by 4-1.
The hint of a major upset was quite clear by then before Shah held his nerves to level it at 4-4, and in the deciding the frame, Chadha made a break of 41 to secure his win.
