Bengaluru, Nov 23: As the battle for the knock-out slots intensified, Thailand's Waratthanun Sukritthanes showcased her country's snooker legacy by scoring a shock 3-0 win over defending women's champion Wendy Jans from Belgium in the Seaways-IBSF World Snooker Championship, here Sunday.
Sukritthanes, in recording her fifth straight win to qualify for the knockout phase from Group A, underlined the depth of talent in Thailand that has produced the likes of James Wattana and Chuchart Trirattanapradit who inspired a generation of cueists in the last two decades of the previous century.
Pankaj Advani happy with 50s and 60s
"Of course, it is good to qualify for the knockout and the group stage is a formality from now on. As I have been saying, not the ideal conditions here and it is difficult to create breaks which is what snooker is about, but I am happy to get my 50s and 60s that are winning me the frames," said Advani.
Kamal Chawla, one of the dangerous floaters, also recorded his fifth win by defeating Australia's Matthew Bolton 4-1 to qualify for the knockout phase and will be a player to watch out for as also Sourav Kothari who remained unbeaten in four outings.
Meanwhile, National women's champion Vidya Pillai and 22-year old Amee Kamani both posted their fourth win to move closer to the knockout phase of the tournament while Chitra Magimairajan completed her league engagements with a fifth consecutive victory to top Group D with an unbeaten record.
Along with Magimairajan, others to make the round of 24 from Group D were Floriza Andal (Philippines), Ka Kai Wan (Hong Kong) and Carmelita Yumito (Brazil).
The results (league, Indians unless mentioned)
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