Pankaj Advani stole the show even as Indian cueists experienced mixed luck on the third day of the Asian snooker championship at the Yeshwant Club here on Monday.
Advani and Aditya Mehta recorded comprehensive wins, while Manan Chandra, I.H. Manudev, Kamal Chawla and Lucky Vatnani ended up as losers in their respective group matches.
Advani exhibited his class by making two century breaks on the day. In the Group B contests, the Indian ace first outclassed Mongolian Sergelen Batdelger 86-22, 119 (119)-8, 75-51, 64-21 and then trounced Hiroshi Matsumura of Japan 96-44, 129 (129)-1, 72-5, 66-8.
Mehta was too good for his Japanese rival Satoshi Nakamura 84 (62)-0, 97 (80)-6, 79-14, 65-22 in Group H.
Aggressive intent
With an aggressive intent, Mehta exhibited his trademark artistry to achieve pots through some delicate shots. The Indian, however, felt that he needed to work on the ‘safety' aspect of his game.
“I played aggressively as I would need to do it against good players in future (matches). However, I gave away too many points in the last frame,” said Mehta.
Chandra, recovering from a stomach bug, went down fighting against Pakistan's Shahid Aftab. The Indian lost 15-85, 34-67, 37-58, 64-36, 57-34, 38-57 in the Group C encounter. Later, he wilted against an inform Mohammad Rais Senzahi of Afghanistan 6-73, 36-67, 27-82, 46-68.
Manudev struggled to find suitable angles in his 0-78, 75-40, 9-78, 23-63, 1-70 defeat against Noppadal Sangnil of Thailand in a Group E clash. “I had no choice but to do something drastic and it did not work out,” the Bangalore-based player said.
Suwannawat posts win
Meanwhile, another Thai, Passakorn Suwannawat, outwitted Chawla 81 (81)-11, 0-59, 91 (53)-0, 61-1, 111 (111)-0 with his tremendous break-building skills in a Group F engagement.
Vatnani fought a heroic battle before accepting defeat against one of the strong title contenders, Tian Pengfei of China. The Indian lost the Group G tussle 63-55, 23-68, 49-74, 56-74, 116 (116)-7, 0-66 despite achieving a century break.
Other results:
Group A : Mohammad Al Joaker (UAE) bt Ahmed Hassan Hadi (Irq) 62-16, 69-23, 63-55, 74-31; Muhammad Sajjad (Pak) bt A. Mohsin (Qat) 24-67, 50-59, 67-17, 94-31, 86-4, 73-25.
Group B : Lim Chun Kiat (Sin) bt Yuttapop Pakpoj (Tha) 30-82, 69-70, 62-7, 49-12, 47-22, 63-20.
Group C : Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iri) bt Mohammed Al Sheikh (Ba) 44-50, 61-16, 23-73, 64-15, 31-69, 69-31, 93-7. Group D : Jin Long (Chn) bt Yaquob S.M. Al Enezi (Ku) 56-68, 62-69, 59-18, 58-20, 65-64, 57-34; Fung Kwok Wai (HK) bt Mohammad Saleh (Afg) 65-1, 65-46, 99-46, 67-0.
Group E : Lau Ka Lam (HK) bt Karam Fatima (Syr) 81-16, 45-63, 1-127 (115), 54-14, 69-32, 27-69, 66-11. Group F : Imran Shahzad (Pak) bt M. Khalowais (Ku) 56-23, 74 (66)-8, 68 (60)-16, 46-59, 53-35; Passakorn Suwannawat (Tha) bt Michael Angelo Mengorio (Ph) 60-15, 72-43, 31-63, 64-6, 84 (56)-51.
Group G : Omar Alkhojah (Syr) bt Danny Lam Tuck Weng (Sin) 73-26, 25-68, 59-48, 83 (65)-22, 57-22. Group H : Mohammad Shehab (UAE) bt Alvin Ambatali Barbero (Ph) 79 (79)-0, 67-56, 58-1, 86-1.
Sunday's results: Group E : Karam Fatima (Syr) bt Chul Ho Hwang (Kor) 90-14, 70-54, 66-54, 50-42. Group F : Imran Shahzad (Pak) bt Michael Angelo Mengorio (Ph) 77-23, 67-41, 65-27, 59-33.
