World Snooker Championship | Pankaj Advani advances into the knockout stages

11/23/2017

Pankaj Advani has stormed into the knockout rounds of the World Snooker Championship with a comfortable 4-0 win over Brazil’s Victor Sarkis in the round robin stage. The 17-time World Champion, who grabbed the top seed spot in the process, believes things to become even more challenging now.

Pankaj Advani mesmerized the crowd by scoring a mammoth 38 break from start to finish in the last frame of the tie, which is the highest break of the tournament so far. He made a clean sweep in the league stage winning against every opponent and has grabbed the top-seed spot in the draw of 64.

Though the 17-time World Champion has dropped only two frames so far in the four league matches, Advani is still finding his full range in snooker and the 32-year-old admitted that he is yet to get flow of the full shift.

"I’m still transitioning from billiards to snooker. Two days were definitely not enough, but with the 138 as well as getting top billing in the knockout draw, I must be doing something right I suppose," said Advani after the game, as quoted by PTI.

The tournament has been a smooth sail for him so far, but Advani believes that things are going to get competitive now.

"…Now is when the competition gets better and more challenging. In elimination rounds, every win is a big deal," Advani said.

Advani starts his opening knockout game later on Thursday night.