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Top seed Pankaj Advani of India cruised into the pre-quarter-finals of the 32nd Asian Snooker Championship, but Qatar’s challenge came to an end yesterday.
Qatar’s Ahmed Saif, Ali al-Obaidli and A Mohsin al-Abdulrahman all lost their respective knockouts matches at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Academy yesterday.
Advani, meanwhile, lost his first frame of the tournament but otherwise had little trouble in getting past Alijali Ali of Iraq 4-1 to enter the pre-quarter-finals.
Multiple-time champion Advani has amazingly never claimed the Asian title in his illustrious career, despite being a finalist on three occasions. His hopes of putting that right are firmly on course as the 30-year-old from Bengaluru looks in prime form in Doha.
Advani pocketed the first three frames 78-54, 107-2, 74-9 with breaks of 73 and 85 in the first two frames. In the fourth frame, Advani put up a strong fight, but lost the frame 29-65 to Ali. Playing a best-of-7 frames, the Indian ace won the fifth frame 57-44 to seal the match in his favour.
“It is good to start on a winning note in the knockout stages as it acts as a confidence booster, a necessity in tournaments of this level,” Advani commented on his day at work.
In the round of 16, Advani will face fellow Indian and 2015 National Sub-Junior Snooker winner, 19-year-old Ishpreet Singh Chadha, who beat Mohamed al-Joaker of UAE 4-1 (16-87,63-35,87(87)-00,54-36,134(134)-01)
“I look forward to facing promising talent such as Ishpreet who has been making quite an impression on the national snooker circuit. I am sure this will be a challenging yet exciting encounter,” Advani added.
Hosts Qatar had day to forget as its trio bowed out of the tournament. The local hope rested on Saif, a graduate from 2013 Q-School and Qatar’s only ever professional player. But the 33-year-old was beaten by Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh in a nail-biting match. Sarkhosh won 4-3 (68-19, 15-72, 81-22, 62-69, 45-58, 79(61)-21, 74(61)-25).
Mohamed Shehab of UAE edged past Ali al-Obaidli of Qatar in a thrilling Round of 32 encounter 4-3 (49-55, 40-50, 63-50, 74-19, 62-14, 40-56, 65-52)
Qatar’s A Mohsin al-Abdulrahman, who was playing in the preliminary round, lost to Alvin Barbero of Philippines 4-3 (83-31, 61-31, 40-74, 12-82, 03-67, 70-35, 59-47).
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Mohamed Asif and Mohamed Bilal qualified for the
pre-quarter finals but Mohamed Sajjad bowed out.
Results
Round of 32
Pankaj Advani (India) beat Alijalil Ali (Iraq) 4-1 (78(73)-54, 107(85)-02, 74-09,29-65,57-44)
Ishpreet Chadha (India) beat Mohamed al-Joaker (UAE) 4-1 (16-87,63-35,87(87)-00,54-36,134(134)-01)
Yuttapop Pakpoj (Thailand) beat Mohamed al-shamsi (UAE) 4-0 (81(54)-16,68(58)-00,81(54)-01,72-59)
Karam Fatima (Syria) beat Manan Chandra (India) 4-3 (49-63,36-63,55-20,66(52)-44,10-72(58),70(58)-22,79-43)
Soheil Vahedi (Iran) beat Mohamed Sajjad (Pakistan) 4-3 (28-74,61-14,42-54,76-53,33-54,79-00,63-32)
Mohamed Asif (Pakistan) beat Sundeep Gulati (India) 4-2 (66(66)-17, 44-87, 73(57)-16, 47-72, 76(61)-23, 64-32)
Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Thailand) beat Fung Kwok Wai (Hong Kong) 4-3 (00-55,86-07,86-04,36-64,70-13,25-76,68-01)
Mohamed Bilal (Pakistan) beat Jefrey Roda (Philippines) 4-1 (61-38,104(104)-00,34-60,70-24,120(97)-00)
Habib Subah (Bahrain) beat Soheil Shehzad (Pakistan) 4-3 (05-66, 05-68(68), 62-55, 11-62, 72(64)-08, 62-54(52), 86(52)-34)
Mohamed Shehab (UAE) beat Ali al-obaidli (Qatar) 4-3 (49-55, 40-50, 63-50, 74-19, 62-14, 40-56, 65-52)
Moh Keen Hoo (Malaysia) beat Ali Hussein (Iraq) 4-1 (56(52)-17,78-44,77-37,42-65,60-39)
Omar Alajlani (Saudi Arabia) beat Au Chi Chung (Hong Kong) 4-0 (75(50)-06,68-15,83-26,89(60)-09)
Au Chi Wai (Hong Kong) beat Husain Mahmood (Bahrain) 4-1 (72-44, 35-61, 67-02, 112-13, 62-24)
Michael Mengorio (Philippines) beat Ahmed Aseeri (Saudi Arabia) 4-1 (75-02, 92-25, 62-49, 42-58, 80-00)
Amir Sarkhosh (Iran) beat Ahmed Saif (Qatar) 4-3 (68-19, 15-72, 81-22, 62-69, 45-58, 79(61)-21, 74(61)-25)
Arman Dinarvand (Iran) beat Alvin Barbero (Philippines) 4-3 (16-70(69), 99(72)-11, 27-67, 87-25, 15-69(69), 68-23, 54-38)
Preliminary Round
Alvin Barbero beat A Mohsen al-Abdulrahman (Qatar) 4-3 (83-31, 61-31, 40-74, 12-82, 03-67, 70-35, 59-47)
Alijalil Ali beat Chee Keong Chan (Singapore) 4-1 (74-22, 58-22, 46-77, 61-32, 68-47)
Jefrey Roda beat Robby Suarly (Indonesia) 4-1 (46-53, 79-29, 76-62, 73-54, 65-30)
Soheil Shehzad beat Lim Chun Kiat (Singapore) 4-1 (82-21, 30-68, 90-29, 66-42, 74-44)
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