Kothari and Arora reach quarters as Ahawla, Natasha bow out at the World Games

Sourav Kothari and Shivam Arora entered the quarterfinals at the World Games in Chengdu, while Kamal Chawla and Natasha Chethan exited early after defeats in their respective cue sports events

Hyderabad: On a bittersweet day for Indian cueists, Sourav Kothari and Shivam Arora advanced to the quarterfinals in their respective cue sports discipline. However, the other two Indians in the competition, Kamal Chawla and Natasha Chethan, failed to get past the group stage at the World Games in Chengdu (China) here on Monday.

Kothari lost his final league game to Darryl Hill of Great Britain 1-2 in a match that was poised on a knife-edge till the final black. Despite the defeat, the bespectacled pro made the knockout quarters on better frame average (+1) following a three-way tie.

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Zac Cosker, who lost 0-2 to Kothari on the opening day, defeated his countryman Hill 2-0 to finish second behind the Indian. Cosker (0) edged out Hill (-1) to make the last-eight stage.

Arora, the Commonwealth Championships silver medallist in heyball, outclassed Kevin Zarekani 5-1 in the pre-quarters. The 38-year-old was largely untroubled in the Race-to-5 match. Arora next meets Yip Kin Ling of Hong Kong China for a place in the medal round.

Chawla frittered away a good chance to make the quarters from Group ‘D’, losing 1-2 to former pro Michael Georgiou.

In women’s 6-red snooker, the promising Natasha lost 1-2 to the formidable Wendy Jans to bow out of the Games.