Bangalore, Dec 1 (IANS) Even as veteran Yasin Merchant bid adieu to the sport, 26-year old National champion Pankaj Advani, along with Alok Kumar and Kamal Chawala, moved into the pre-quarter-finals of the IBSF World snooker championship here Thursday that witnessed its quota of century breaks.
Merchant, who at 45 felt it was time to quit, went down 4-5 to Australia’s Steve Mifsud, the 2002 champion, after putting up a great fight in a repeat of their 2009 championship clash in Hyderabad while Advani put in a polished performance to oust Mark Tuite of Ireland 5-0 and Chawla, the 30-year old from Bhopal, beat compatriot Anuj Uppal 5-3.
Merchant did well to fight back from 1-3 and 2-4 aided by a brilliant break of 127 clearance in the fifth frame besides two half-century breaks (67 and 67), but Mifsud closed the match with a super run of 68 in the ninth frame.
‘I thought I had him. He was under pressure and was making mistakes. But then, the 68 break in the last frame was simply superb. Overall, he played better,’ said Merchant who, in the course of the 127 break, rolled back the years.
‘Yes, I was in the zone during that century break, and I wanted to just blast my way through, but then, my concentration and focus kept wavering. He had a good opening in the decider frame and that was it,’ he added.
Advani, the 2003 champion, was all poise and finesse and though he had only two half-century breaks (55 and 67), he was rarely in a spot of bother, except in the fifth that was decided on the black ball.
For all that, Advani needs to shift gears as he is placed in a very tough half of the draw that has 2008 champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand who was among the most impressive winner in the round of 32 as he swept past Egypt’s Mohamed Khairy 5-1 with breaks of 99, 77 and 84.
In the pre-quarter-final round that will be played later tonight, Advani takes on Scotland’s Craig MacGillivray who eliminated Sergiy Isayenko of Ukraine 5-1.
Both Chawla and Alok who face each other in the next round, came through tight matches. While Chawla overcame compatriot Anuj Uppal 5-3, Alok survived a marathon, near five-hour match against Poland’s Krzysztof Wrobel 5-3.
Meanwhile, in a gripping encounter, Afghanistan’s Saleh Mohammad Mohammadi, who had cracked a 142 in the previous round played this morning, threw away a 4-1 lead and lost to England’s Martin O’Donnell 4-5.
Mohammadi was just one ball away from wrapping up the tie in the sixth frame, but a bad miss on the red followed by a poor safety shot, let O’Donnell off the hook. The Englishman kept his composure even as the Afghani player resorted to delaying tactics by taking a toilet break after each frame, to run out a worthy winner.
The results:
Round of 32: Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (IRI) bt Mark Boyle (SCO) 5-3; Vinnie Calabrese (AUS) bt Karam Fateima (SYR) 5-0; Brendan O’Donoghue (IRL) bt Fung Kwok Wai (HKG) 5-2; Omar Alkojah (SYR) bt Mohamed Shehab (UAE) 5-3; Kamal Chawla (IND) bt Anuj Uppal (IND) 5-3; Alok Kumar (IND) bt Krzysztof Wrobel (POL) 5-3; Kevin Van Hove-Speltinckx (BEL) bt Rhydian Richards (IRL) 5-3; Steve Mifsud (AUS) bt Yasin Merchant (IND) 5-4; Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Mark Tuite (IRL) 5-0; Craig MacGillivray (SCO) bt Sergiy Isayenko (UKR) 5-1; Peter Bullen (BEL) bt Wael Talaat (EGY) 5-1; Ehsan Heydari Nezhad (IRI) bt Joe Minici (AUS) 5-4; Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) bt Mohamed Khairy (EGY) 5-1; Martin O’Donnell (ENG) bt Saleh Mohammad Mohammadi (AFG) 5-4; Imran Shahzad (PAK) bt Muhammad Asif (PAK) 5-2; Lee Walker (WAL) bt Au Chi Wai (HK) 5-4.
Round of 48: Mark Boyle (SCO) bt Noppon Saengkham (THA) 4-3; Vinnie Calabrese (AUS) bt Rodney Goggins (IRL) 4-0; Brendan O’Donoghue (IRL) bt Manan Chandra (IND) 4-1; Omar Alkojah (SYR) bt Marcin Nitschke (POL) 4-1; Anuj Uppal (IND) bt Rais Khan Sen Zahi (AFG) 4-1; Alok Kumar (IND) bt Brijesh Damani (IND) 4-3; Kevin Van Hove-Speltinckx (BEL) bt Andreas Ploner (AUT) 4-1; Yasin Merchant (IND) bt Yaser Elsherbiny (EGY) 4-0; Mark Tuite (IRL) bt Antti Mannila (FIN) 4-0; Sergiy Isayenko (UKR) bt Hitesh Naran (RSA) 4-1; Peter Bullen (BEL) bt Costas Konnaris (CYP) 4-2; Joe Minici (AUS) bt IH Manudev (IND) 4-3; Mohamed Khairy (EGY) bt Susantha Boteju (SRI) 4-1; Saleh Mohammad Mohammadi (AFG) bt Mohamed Isa Ebrahim Shaikh (BRN) 4-1; Imran Shahzad (PAK) bt Joris Maas (NED) 4-1; Au Chi Wai (HK) bt Mohammed Al Joaker (UAE) 4-3.
(Anand Philar can be contacted at anandphilar@gmail.com)
