Keerthana, Anupama enter IBSF World Snooker semifinals

While Keerthana edged out Asian champion Narantuya Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia 3-1, Anupama, a former Asian champion, prevailed by a similar margin over Indonesia’s Annabella Putri Yohana

Hyderabad: India’s Keerthana Pandian and Anupama Ramachandran powered into the women’s semifinals of the IBSF World Snooker Championships in Doha on Wednesday.

While Keerthana edged out Asian champion Narantuya Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia 3-1, Anupama, a former Asian champion, prevailed by a similar margin over Indonesia’s Annabella Putri Yohana, the top seed, in another quarterfinal. The two face each other in the last-four stage clash later in the evening.

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However, Amee Kamani, seeded No. 2 in the knockouts, let slip a 2-0 cushion and bowed out 2-3 to Hong Kong China’s So Man Yan in another last-eight stage match. So Man had late on Tuesday evening knocked out young Natasha Chethan in the pre-quarters.

Keerthana, a former World U-21 champion, came into her own after a slow start. The girl from Kolar seemed to find her rhythm and range after the loss of the first frame of the best-of-five frame encounter. She pocketed the next three frames to set up a meeting with Anupama.

Anupama, meanwhile, geared up for the semis with runs of 44 and 50 in her lopsided victory against her Indonesian rival.

In the men’s section, India’s Hussain Khan went down without a whimper, losing 0-4 to 14-year-old sensation from Poland, Michal Szubarczyk, in the last sixteen stage.