National snooker C'ship: Pankaj Advani in knockouts with a routine win

Bhopal, Nov 30 (IANS) Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSB) cueist Pankaj Advani had a routine day in office as he defeated Vinayak Agarwal of Uttar Pradesh 4-2 to make it to the knockout stage in the Men's 6-Red Snooker competition of the 88th National Billiards and Snooker Championship 2021 at the Sage University Campus, here on Tuesday.

Advani was always in control and produced small breaks of 40 and 37 in the third and sixth frames respectively to register a 40-11, 14-34, 69-00, 01-54, 43-07, and 37-25 victory.

Advani, who completed his third win on Tuesday and qualified for the knockout round, said, "It feels good to be able to maintain the consistency and maintain the all-win record. I am looking forward to the knockout matches which start tomorrow".

Meanwhile, Maharashtra challengers Kreish Gurbaxani and Rahul Sachdev both showed strong fighting qualities to win their second league matches on Tuesday.

The talented Mumbai-based youngster Gurbaxani showed excellent touch to record a stunning 4-1 win against seasoned campaigner Saurav Kothari of West Bengal in the best-of-7-frame tie. Gurbaxani strung together breaks of 34, 63, and 49 in the last three frames and sent Kothari crashing to a 02-37, 36-12, 42-23, 64-00, and 61-05 defeat.

The left-handed Sachdev, after dropping the opening two frames, rallied splendidly to overcome Vijay Nichani of Tamil Nadu 4-2. Sachdev compiled two half-century efforts of 52 and 53 in winning the fourth and fifth frames before going on to take the sixth to close out the contest with 21-31, 20-43, 66-00, 52-00, 54-08, and 41-06 frame scores.

Madhya Pradesh's southpaw cueist Amee Kamani continued with her impressive showing and came from behind to record her second successive victory defeati'g Rajasthan's Pooja Galundi 3-1 in the best-of-5-frame Ladies 6-Red snooker competition.

The 29-year-old former champion Amee, after losing the opening frame, bounced back in style. The home favourite potted confidently and hardly provided many opportunities for Pooja and went on to pocket the next three frames on the trot to clinch a deserving 32-42, 57-04, 42-22, and 33-18 verdict.

Results:

Women's section: Amee Kamani (MP) beat Pooja Galundi (RAJ) 32-42, 57-04, 42-22, 33-18; Neena Praveen (TN) beat Revanna Uma Devi (TN) 33-31, 43-11, 28-14; Varsha Sanjeev (KAR) beat Indira Gowda (KAR) 44-08, 38-04, 06-29, 36-13; Indira Gowda (KAR) beat Renu Barkatiya (MP) 58-16, 31-03, 26-42, 33-35, 39-08.

Men's section: M.L. Lakshman (KAR) beat Shahbaz Adil Khan (PSPB) 17-38, 32-34, 44-28, 40-24, 13-43, 29028, 48-18; Pushpender Singh (RSPB) beat Ashutosh Padhy (ODI) 63-01, 23-47, 14-60, 37-25, 12-43, 45-32, 63-07; Akshay Kumar (UP) beat Sean Davis (KAR) 15-26, 14-41, 54-00, 51-00, 42-23, 41-21; Sachin Parihar (MP) beat Mushtaq Khan (TEL) 43-04, 44-26, 01-40, 33-28, 08-47, 00-65(65), 40-11); Rahul Sachdev (MAH) beat Vijay Nichani (TN) 21-31, 20-43, 66-00, 52(52)-00, 54(53)-08, 41-06; Kreish Gurbaxani (MAH) beat Saurav Kothari (WB) 02-37, 36-12, 42(34)-23, 64(63)-00, 61(49)-05); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Vinayak Agarwal (UP) 40-11, 14-34, 69(40)-00, 01-54, 43-07, 37(37)-25).