Kamal Chawla storms into next stage of World Snooker Championships

Kamal Chawla defeated Laxman Rawat 4-1 to advance at the IBSF World Snooker Championships in Indore. Kreishh Gurbaxani, S. Shrikrishna, Piyush Kushwaha, Ranveer Duggal and Digvijay Kadian also progressed after winning their respective third-round matches

Hyderabad: In a battle between former World champions in the shorter format, Kamal Chawla came with all guns blazing to outplay Laxman Rawat, and book his spot in the final stage of the IBSF World Snooker Championships at the Yeshwant Club in Indore .

On song from the get-go, Chawla scored a crushing 4-1 victory in the third round of the first event. A little while later, five more Indian cueists booked their spots in the second stage with contrasting victories.

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After the two split the first two frames of the best-of-seven-frame clash, Chawla shifted gears to leave Rawat gasping in his wake. He made a brilliant 133 break in the third frame, and after winning the fourth on the black, the 47-year-old came up with a sizzling break of 108 to power into the second stage.

Elsewhere, in the clash between two promising cueists, Kreishh Gurbaxani came good when it mattered to score a gritty 4-2 win over the red-hot Rayaan Razmi. Although the match never rose to lofty heights – both players had plenty of chances – Gurbaxani played the big points well to emerge victorious.

Gurbaxani, who played two seasons on the pro tour, got going after losing the first two frames. A fine break of 78 in the third gave him the confidence, and he played a solid game to keep Razmi in check, winning the next three frames, which could have gone either way.

S Shrikrishna, a former World champion in the shorter format, came into his own after a slow start against fellow Indian Pushpender Singh. After losing the first frame, Shrikrishna had runs of 81, 84 and 120 on his way to a 4-1 victory.

Piyush Kushwaha, Ranveer Duggal and Digvijay Kadian were other Indians to advance to the final stage. There are two more events for the remaining hopefuls to qualify for the next stage.

Select results (Stage 1, Indians unless mentioned): Round 3: Piyush Kushwaha bt Anuraag Giri 4-3 (81-48, 69-15, 34-65, 46-60, 87 (87) -35, 55-63, 68-43); Kreishh Gurbaxani bt Rayaan Razmi 4-2 (20-65, 52-57, 90 (78) -2, 77-53, 65-57, 79-46); Kamal Chawla bt Laxman Rawat 4-1 (63-15, 29-69, 133 (133) -0, 65-64, 108 (108) -0); S Shrikrishna bt Pushpender Singh 4-1 (43-69, 67-32, 81 (81) -16, 108 (84) -0, 136 (120) -0); Fung Kwok Wai (HKC) bt Aarav Sancheti 4-0 (67-17, 57-26, 52-39, 63-30); Ranveer Duggal bt Dhruv Patel 4-0 (72-9, 54-39, 78-35, 71-18); Digvijay Kadian bt Thaha Irshath (SL) 4-3 (62-74, 17-70, 64-23, 77-25, 14-71, 88-1, 69-22).