Pankaj Advani moves into quarterfinal

Pankaj Advani entered the quarterfinals of the Commonwealth 6-Red Snooker Championship in Hyderabad. Keerthana Pandian and Anupama Ramachandran also advanced, while Brijesh Damani and Arantxa Sanchis exited early

Hyderabad: India’s multiple-time world champion Pankaj Advani powered into the 6-Red Snooker quarterfinals of the inaugural Commonwealth Billiards Championships here on Friday.

Advani, after a slow start, outplayed Australia’s Xavier Daw 3-1. A clearance of 42 in the second frame was the highlight of his first-round victory. Brijesh Damani, the other Indian in the fray in the men’s section, went down 1-3 to Cyprus’ Michael Georgiou.

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In the women’s section, Keerthana Pandian and Asian 15-Red champion Anupama Ramachandran made the knockout quarterfinals with contrasting wins. Kolar’s Keerthana outclassed Swaziland’s Simphiwe Dlamini 2-0, while Anupama overcame mid-match blues to defeat Australia’s Lilly Meldrum.

Southpaw Arantxa Sanchis, the third Indian in the fray, lost 0-2 to Malaysia’s Tan Kim Mei. Keerthana will face the Malaysian cueist next.

Advani, coming off a splendid show at the Asian Team Snooker Championship in Colombo last week, found his rhythm as the match progressed to comfortably defeat the Australian. In the last-eight stage, he will take on Damani’s conqueror, Georgiou.

Results – 6-Red Snooker (Round 1):

Men: Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Xavier Daw (Aus) 3-1 (16-27, 42 (42)-17, 36-16, 34-23);
Brijesh Damani (Ind) lost to Michael Georgiou (Cyp) 1-3 (32-34, 1-48, 33-31, 4-39).

Women: Keerthana Pandian (Ind) bt Simphiwe Dlamini (Swa) 2-0 (49-5, 52 (44)-1);
Anupama Ramachandran (Ind) bt Lilly Meldrum (Aus) 2-1 (46-5, 14-24, 33-11);
Arantxa Sanchis (Ind) lost to Tan Kim Mei (Mas) 0-2 (7-53, 19-37).