Pankaj Advani showed his grit to shock world No. 11 Mark Allen 4-2, while Aditya Mehta excelled with his flawless safety game to beat rookie Hammad Miah 4-1, as the two entered the round-of-16 in the inaugural Indian Open snooker tournament here on Wednesday.
Advani, who overcame the Northern Irishman in a three-and-a-half-hour high quality contest, will now meet world No. 12 Englishman Stuart Bingham in the pre-quarterfinals.
Having played Miah, an English player of Bangladesh origin, a few months ago, Mehta knew what to expect and rallied from one frame down to emerge the winner. He set up a last-16 clash with two-time world champion Mark Williams, who stunned the second-ranked Mark Selby.
Fighting back
After losing the opening frame, Advani, ranked 70th, fought back to take the next two with half-century breaks. Allen forced his way to win the fourth and made it 2-2.
There was a difference of opinion between the two over the positioning of the balls following a ‘foul and a miss’ by Advani in the fifth. The Indian shrugged it off to clinch the frame with a fine clearance of the coloured balls. Advani then relied on his potting skills to win the next frame too.
“The game changes against the top-16 players and I can proudly say that playing with the top stars, I have become more confident about my shots,” said Advani.
Keeping it tight
Mehta kept it tight against Miah and gathered points only when they were available. He claimed the second and third frames on the strength of smaller breaks and took the fourth swiftly.
In a keenly-fought fifth frame, with no reds on the table, Mehta performed a 27-point match-winning clearance. “I was shocked to see somewhere that my safety was 100 per cent,” he said.
The results: Second round: Liang Wenbo bt Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-2 [1-71, 100 (100)-1, 87 (87)-0, 75-11, 47-63, 84-50]; Michael White bt Zhang Anda 4-3 [8-92 (83), 0-133 (133), 69-23, 55-21, 41-66, 76-40, 79-26]; Robbie Williams bt Andrew Higginson 4-1 [62-18, 75-13, 60-5, 11-73, 103 (103)-0]; Anthony McGill bt Fergai O’Brien 4-1 [63-65, 77 (70)-25, 75-0, 62-44, 60-49]; Aditya Mehta bt Hammad Miah 4-1 [20-97, 74-2, 69-27, 68 (67)-0, 69-60]; Stephen Maguire bt Tom Ford 4-3 [85-0, 52-71, 59 (59)-79 (79), 60-52, 1-71, 93 (93)-0, 54-46]; Ding Junhui bt Mark Joyce 4-3 [82-6, 0-85 (85), 0-88 (88), 49-69, 96 (85)-9, 106 (106)-1,109 (109)-4]; Mark Davis bt Michael Holt 4-1 [1-71, 83 (67)-1, 58-38, 60-11, 75 (51)-0]; Neil Robertson bt Rod Lawler 4-2 [0-108 (108), 67-10, 73-49, 67-8, 30-75 (60), 63-14]; Joe Perry bt Ricky Walden 4-2 [7-102 (102), 97 (58)-30, 80 (56)-8, 62-76 (76), 90 (54)-20, 115 (85)-0]; Mike Dunn bt Ratchayothin Yotharuck 4-0 [85-8, 82-8, 139 (92)-0, 78-1]; Mark Williams bt Mark Selby 4-1 [79 (53)-39, 76 (72)-0, 69 (69)-64 (64), 0-105 (92), 100 (100)-0]; John Higgins bt Li Yan 4-0 [73 (73)-0, 68-34, 84 (84)-0, 105 (105)-0]; Pankaj Advani bt Mark Allen 4-2 [48-67, 81 (55)-0, 92 (71)-5, 45-81, 69-42, 73-7]; Stuart Bingham bt Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 4-2 [47-69, 72-1, 119 (119)-6, 54-7, 36-99, 62-9]; Gary Wilson bt Marco Fu 4-3 [85-14, 44-64, 120 (120)-0, 0-81 (81), 0-137 (137), 99-31].
Tuesday’s results: First round: Dunn bt Ken Doherty 4-2 [59-9, 71-12, 79 (72)-0, 21-66, 15-109 (102), 65-27]; Bingham bt Liu Chuang 4-1 [130 (88)-6, 35-101 (101), 62 (62)-36, 106 (55)-9, 98(98)-13]; Tirapongpaiboon bt Lyu Haotian 4-1 [81-9, 58-55, 93-35, 16-63, 70 (55)-63].
