Sticking true to his reputation, local lad Pankaj Advani entered the semifinals of the IBSF World Snooker Championship defeating Belgium’s Peter Bullen 6—2 here on Friday.
Advani will now play Wales’ Lee Walker, who caused a major upset, defeating former world snooker champion Thepchaiya Un—Nooh of Thailand 6—2.
Played in front of fairly packed KSBA auditorium, the quarterfinal got off to a flying start as Advani powered a break of 62 clinching the opening frame 71—7. But he conceded the next frame when his opponent crafted a break of 123.
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The third frame followed a similar path but was decided on a superb snooker laid by Bullen. Advani failed to hit the colours on the cushion and as a result it left him out of the contention to claim the frame.
At 1—2, it appeared that Advani was down and out but he engineered a break of 62 in the fourth frame to make it 2—2.
An excellent break of 47 in the fifth frame seemed to rejuvenate Advani and he quickly claimed the hard—fought frame 67—50. The next three frames was all about Advani as the seven—time world champion dominated from the start of each frames.
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The ace Indian cueist got off to a perfect start in the sixth frame as he fashioned a break of 63, winning the frame 70—9. Advani won the seventh frame 69—16.
Bullen tried fighting his way back into the game but was unable to get the crucial colours and when Advani constructed a break of 43 in the eighth frame, it was all over for the Belgian cueist.
Iran’s Hossein Vafei Ayouri also stormed into the semifinals when he defeated Ireland’s Brendan O’Donoghue 6—2.