Faisal Khan of Railways to meet Pankaj Advani in National Snooker Quarters

Pankaj Advani, the tournament favourite, had won his Pre-Quarter final match with Sundeep Gulati of Delhi 4-0. The full house, hoping to see century breaks from Advani, had to be content seeing regular breaks of 71, 62, 52 and 72. Hapless Sundeep Gulati could do little as the match ended in double-quick time with the scoreline reading 72(71)-08, 93(62)-24, 91(52)-01, 80(72)-00.

In another Pre-Quarters match, 24-year-old Varun Madan produced the upset of the day when he ousted local hope and current India No. 3 Brijesh Damani in a nail-biting 4-3 finish. Madan lost the first, third and fourth frames 0-101, 04-63, 37-72. But he showed his mettle in making a stunning comeback and leveling the scores 3-all.

The decider went down to the wire as Varun, who was trailing by 18 points, levelled it by displaying amazing potting skills and he sealed the issue in a tiebreaker.

The lone surviving local lad, Shahbaaz Adil Khan, sealed his place in the Quarters with a 4-1 win over Himanshu Jain of Telengana with the frame scores reading 31-61, 62-30, 76-14, 77-50, 80-39.

Talking about his big Quarter-Final match tomorrow, Faisal Khan, who will take on Pankaj Advani, said: “It's a big match of course. So far it's been a fine tournament for me and I'll hope to take the positives." Khan was a member of the gold medal winning Asian team that beat Pakistan last year. The Delhi lad said he had beaten Advani in the quarters en route to the title at an invitational meet in Pune 2008.

"I'd also beaten him in the six-red snooker national in Chandigarh in 2010. But he's going great here, let's see what happens but I won't give up easily," he said.

The holder of 12 world titles, Advani, began the day ousting Bihar's Anupam Jha with utmost ease in the last 32.

The 29-year-old returned in the evening to defeat Delhi's Sandeep Gulati when he posted breaks of 71, 62, 52 and 72 for another easy win.

Second seed Kamal Chawla snapped the dream run of unheralded Delhi youngster Avinash Kumar with an easy 4-0 win, while third seed Manan Chandra survived a scare against Shivam Arora of Bihar before posting a 4-2 win.

Earlier in the last 32, Avinash had defeated former India player Rafath Habib of the Railways 4-3.

PRE-QUARTER FINALS SCORES

Best of 7 Frames

Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Sundeep Gulati (DL) 4-0

72(71)-08, 93(62)-24, 91(52)-01, 80(72)-00

Faisal Khan (RSPB) beat Alok Kumar (PSPB) 4-2

28-89(85), 51-53, 77-45, 86(43)-25, 70-20, 54-36

Dharminder Lilly (PB) beat Dhwaj Haria (PSPB) 4-0

69-23, 61-45, 65-45, 56-50

Kamal Chawla (RSPB) beat Avinash Kumar (DL) 4-0

63-44, 113(103)-00, 102(46)-16, 75(56)-08

Manan Chandra (PSPB) beat Shivam Arora (BH) 4-2

51-53, 70-54, 107(58)-24, 65-14, 09-121(121), 59-36

Varun Madan beat Brijesh Damani 4-3

00-101, 62-60, 04-63, 37-72, 74-29, 100-13, 60-53

Shahbaaz Adil Khan (PSPB) beat Himanshu Jain (Telengana) 4-1

31-61, 62-30, 76-14, 77-50, 80-39

Devendra Joshi (PSPB) beat Monu Chaudhary (Delhi) 4-2

28-69(56), 61-46, 59-41, 62-26, 07-74, 61-59

24-year-old Arantxa Sanchis of Maharashtra annexed the Women’s Billiards title beating her vastly more experienced opponent and state-mate Meenal Thakur at the BRC Gloster National Billiards & Snooker Championship at the Bengal Rowing Club today.

Arantxa played a patient game and kept her composure intact even when Meenal snatched the third frame 27-75, and then proceeded to play some fine shots in the fourth and final frame to leave Meenal second-best with the score reading 77-19. The match-end tally read 4-1 in Arantxa’s favour with the scoreline at 75-74, 75-45, 27-75, 77-19.

Aranxta had demolished Vidya Pillai 2-0 in the Quarters and Chitra M of Karnataka 2-0 in the semis. Meenal came into the finals after winning a see-saw battle 2-1 against R. Umadevi of Karnataka.

SENIOR MEN’S SNOOKER KNOCK OUT

ROUND OF 32

Best of 7 Frames

SCORES              

Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Anupam Jha (BH) 4-0

86-06, 72-6, 88-9, 96-6

Sundeep Gulati (DL) beat Vipin Premi (UP) 4-2

76-01, 15-122, 66-39, 75-00, 45-47, 65-50

Alok Kumar (PSPB) beat Laxman Rawat (MH) 4-0

110-11, 67-23, 60-23, 57-23

Faisal Khan (RSPB) beat Arshad Zama (WB) 4-3

98-00, 10-124, 25-62, 66-38, 85-38, 7-78, 62-48

Dharminder Lilly (PB) beat Ishpreet Chadha (MH) 4-2

54-74, 77-7, 84-7, 44-73, 84-64, 61-20

Dhwaj Haria (PSPB) beat I. V. Rajiv (AP) 4-2

87-32, 87-0, 24-60, 0-70, 79-15, 52-45

Himanshu Jain (TLGN) beat Anuj Uppal (DL) 4-2

95-42, 23-73, 71-30, 41-65, 81-15, 69-28

Shahbaaz Adil Khan beat Rajat Khaneja 4-3

81-20, 22-84, 29-49, 99-31, 62-38-38-54, 72-08    

Manan Chandra (PSPB) beat Manish Jain (WB) 4-1

58-54, 96(78)-9, 82-89, 69-56, 68(52)-22

Shivam Arora (BH) beat Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 4-2

94(68)-19, 61-11, 37-90, 38-70, 72-31, 76-33

Monu Chaudhary beat Ankit Kariwala 4-2

84-11, 60-04, 92-14, 25-65, 11-83(78), 76-35

Devendra Joshi (PSPB) beat Lalrina Renthlei (MZ) 4-3

09-60, 91(64)-09, 57-66, 52-63, 86-17, 71-58, 65-38

Varun Madan beat Siddharth Parikh 4-1

70-58, 09-126(126), 70-28, 68-31, 79-07

Brijesh Damani beat Bharat Sisodiya 4-0

69-38, 82(68)-31, 63-14, 76-38

Avinash Kumar (DL) beat Rafath Habib (RSPB) 4-3

29-83, 72-46, 13-80, 54-80, 52-27, 61-31, 68-58

Kamal Chawla (RSPB) beat Manav Panchal (Mh) 4-1

73(62)-63, 50-62, 95-21, 64-34, 74-35