Pankaj Advani and Kamal Chawla won cliffhangers, while Aditya Mehta posted a comprehensive victory as three Indians advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian snooker championship here on Thursday.
Advani came back from two-frame deficit to beat Mohammad Shehab of United Arab Emirates (UAE) 27-72, 36-80, 84 (71)-6, 79-43, 34-57, 75-1, 94 (63)-0, 39-66, 70 (55)-19 in a sensational pre-quarterfinal.
In the morning session, Chawla stunned 2008 winner Jin Long of China 95 (83)-29, 58-15, 74-43, 45-69, 60-25, 38-66, 33-80 (66), 32-93 (51), 74-28 to justify his qualification to the knockout round.
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Easy outing
Mehta, however, had an easy outing against Mohammad Lababi of Iran. The Indian won the contest 54-42, 65 (63)-1, 77-30, 63-24, 72-46. Mehta will challenge Thailand's Noppadol Sangnil in his quest for a semis berth.
With the win over Shehab, Advani not only ensured a place for himself in the quarters but also got a huge monkey off his back following one of the memorable duels of his career. Having lost to the same opponent in the previous two meetings, the Indian ace was slightly nervous before the contest.
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The UAE player started off with a bang and valued each of his shots. The Bangalore-based cueist enjoyed relief for brief periods when he garnered two sizeable breaks in the third and seventh frames.
Extraordinary shot
Advani played an extraordinary shot to force his way in the decider. His long raid potted a red and positioned the white to claim the black. This provided him a golden opportunity to collect a crucial break of 55, including six black pots. He will meet Chinese Tian Pengfei in the last-eight.
Chawla, leading 4-1 at one stage, failed to get his shots right against Long. He missed a straightforward red pot to lose the eighth frame. However, he displayed a good exhibition of his safety game to emerge triumphant. In the quarterfinals, Chawla will take on Mohammad Rais Senzahi of Afghanistan.
I.H. Manudev lost 1-88 (82), 67-64, 13-67, 16-54, 15-66, 87 (87)-0, 82-7, 32-72 to Pengfei.
Other pre-quarterfinal results: Mohammad Rais Senzahi (Afg) bt Omar Alkojah (Syr) 82-23, 40-66, 67-55, 83-38, 15-68, 42-71, 65-25, 69-1; Noppadol Sangnil (Tha) bt Lim Chun Kiat (Sin) 86-5, 136 (132)-1, 84-20, 49-56, 66-71, 75-39, 64-50; Passakorn Suwannawat (Tha) bt Fung Kwok Wai (HK) 1-79, 55-51, 63-13, 25-82 (49), 76-33, 79 (49)-7, 60 (54)-18; Shahid Aftab (Pak) bt Mohammad Al Joaker (UAE) 62-48, 61-49, 68-57, 73 (72)-68, 61-30.