Pankaj unstoppable: enters quarter finals

Chennai, Sept 19 (UNI) Ace cueist and World Billiards Champion Pankaj Advani stormed into the quarter finals of the Alliance Group- ASCA All India Invitation Snooker tournament here today.

In the pre-quarter finals, Pankaj, donning ONGC colours, derailed Faisal Khan of Railways by four frames to nil.

It turned out to be an easy outing as Pankaj, without having to compile big breaks (57 being the maximum), comfortably won 79-18, 68-51, 88-39, 97-0.

Rupesh Shah of Railways, Rishab Pandya of Maharashtra and the bespectacled Alok Kumar of Punjab joined Pankaj in the last eight stage.

While Rupesh survived some tense moments before winning the best of seven frame contest 4-2 (26-79, 80-0, 73-25, 0-79, 121-1, 134-0) against his fellow Railway mate Rafath Habib, Rishab was stretched to the limit by Shravan Motha of Delhi before prevailing by a 4-3 margin (43-76, 52-65, 3-108, 79-17, 56-8, 58-43, 86-51).

Alok Kumar too had a tough outing as he barely escaped an upset bid at the hands of seasoned Ashok Shandilya of Railways.

The experienced Punjab cueist dropped the second, fifth and sixth frames before getting his act together to win the decisive seventh frame and enter the quarters. Alok won 84-40, 25-57, 70-29, 85-7, 13-73, 9-84, 64-0.

Results: Pre quarter finals: Best of seven frames: Pankaj ADvani (ONGC) bt Faisal Khan Railways 4-0 (79-18, 68-51, 88-39, 97-0) Rupesh Shah (Railways) bt Rafath Habib (Rlys) 4-2 (26-79, 80-0, 73-25, 0-79, 121-1, 134-0).

Rishab Pandya (Maha) bt Shravan Motha (Delhi) 4-3 (43-76, 52-65, 3-108, 79-17, 56-8, 58-43, 86-51).

Alok Kumar (Punjab) bt Ashok Shandilya (Rlys) 4-3 (84-40, 25-57, 70-29, 85-7, 13-73, 9-84, 64-0) UNI GV RAR KP1854