Advani, Gupta, Chawla lead India’s charge in Bahrain snooker meet

Five Indian cueists, including Pankaj Advani and Paras Gupta, advanced to the knockouts at the IBSF 6-Red Snooker Championships in Bahrain, with twin wins each in group matches

Hyderabad: Indian cueists had a good day at the office as five of them were assured of a berth in the knockouts of the IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championships in Manama (Bahrain) on Sunday.

Reigning champion Kamal Chawla, Manan Chandra, Brijesh Damani, Paras Gupta, and Pankaj Advani registered twin wins apiece in their respective groups.

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Despite not figuring in the Masters event, national champion Gupta and three-time world champion Pankaj Advani were solid from the get-go. The duo didn’t need much time to get accustomed to the conditions as they outplayed their rivals without breaking a sweat.

Gupta, who finished runner-up at the Asian bash last month, scored identical 4-1 wins in his two matches in Group K. Advani, who got a wildcard into the event, also registered 4-1 wins over Ahmad Abul (Kuwait) and Ayman Alamri (Saudi Arabia) in Group M.

Chawla, Chandra, and Damani, who all figured in the Masters event, were equally impressive en route to their second straight victory in their respective groups.

In the U-21 category, India’s Mayur Garg and Shahyan Razmi booked their places in the knockouts with twin wins — without dropping a frame — in their respective groups.

The fate of the other six Indians in the fray will be known after the last set of league matches on Monday.

The results (Indians unless mentioned):
Group A:
Kamal Chawla bt Ali Hussein (IRQ) 37-26, 5-52, 71-0, 40-1, 6-48, 21-32, 33-23.

Group B:
Malkeet Singh bt Abdulla Alaali (BHN) 43-19, 52-6, 44-17, 38-9;
Eissa Ali Al Hashmi (UAE) bt Malkeet 49-15, 16-54, 45-6, 42-38, 1-46, 39-24.

Group G:
Khalil Busaif (BHN) bt Pushpender Singh 15-51, 40-20, 13-33, 46-7, 36-28, 22-36, 40-10;
Hasanain Alsultani (USA) bt Pushpender 21-37, 7-53, 54-20, 58-8, 26-32, 46-0, 50-10.

Group J:
Brijesh Damani bt Abdulrahman Saif (UAE) 8-48, 50-1, 67-0, 55-1, 41-6;
Damani bt Asif Imran (BAN) 40-48, 39-10, 31-3, 36-17, 36-0.

Group K:
Paras Gupta bt Abdulla Mohammed (BHN) 43-15, 20-46, 39-9, 48-10, 60-6;
Gupta bt Sami Al Hamrashdi (OMN) 39-49, 58-16, 46-6, 26-15, 28-13.

Group L:
Manan Chandra bt Susantha Boteju (SL) 32-20, 33-19, 41-25, 60-8;
Chandra bt Ihab Al-Salih (IRQ) 49-19, 49-24, 32-19, 17-31, 1-59, 39-13.

Group M:
Pankaj Advani bt Ahmad Abul (KUW) 27-13, 36-13, 28-32, 45-34, 49-0;
Advani bt Ayman Alamri (KSA) 65-0, 43-31, 60-6, 16-33, 46-4.

Group N:
Aditya Mehta bt Punait Saqer (BHN) 20-34, 0-62, 35-23, 33-23, 30-21, 8-53, 42-16.

Group P:
Omar Alajlani (KSA) bt Vijay Nichani 43-11, 8-54, 9-37, 56-0, 28-20, 34-14.

Group Q:
Riley Powell (WAL) bt Rushabh Jain 54-0, 9-44, 45-12, 44-37, 33-29.

Under-21:
Group B:
Xiong Ran (CHN) bt Rahul Williams 75-48, 93-14, 17-68, 68-28.

Group C:
Mayur Garg bt Shadir Sanoon (SL) 55-22, 56-20, 71-17.

Group L:
Chen Qien (CHN) bt Jayad Aarav 59-27, 72-6, 89-0;
Abdallah Gamal (EGY) bt Jayad 3-0 (71-27, 52-16, 67-54).

Group M:
Shahyan Razmi bt Mohamed Zahim (SL) 69-11, 58-15, 61-31;
Razmi bt Zachary Burns (AUS) 3-0 (72-32, 96-13, 69-5).