Sport - Billiards & Snooker   

Indian men in knock-out stage

NEW DELHI OCT. 21. National champion Pankaj Advani scored a crushing 4-0 win against Fijian Viliame Umu as he led all the Indian men into the knock-out stage of the IBSF World snooker championship being played in Jiangmen, China.

Advani blasted off breaks worth 89 and 101 in the second and third frames as he downed Umu 69-53, 125-7, 116-7, 72-15 on way to the last 32 stage. He plays Mei Xiwen of China next, for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.

Former Asian champion Yasin Merchant though had to struggle against another Fijian, Gitsue Lum. After being 2-0 up, Merchant's lead was evened out before the Indian found his rhythm and won the final two frames - polishing off a break of 77 in the sixth frame, which he won 84-0.

Merchant takes on Englishman Jamie O'Nell in the last 32 stage. Should both the Indians win their respective matches, there will be a pre-quarterfinal meeting between the two.

The third Indian in the fray, Alok Kumar, however, had to taste a defeat in his final league match. Still, he qualified as four players from each group made it to the knockout stage. Alok Kumar lost to Brendan O'Donoghue of Ireland 3-4.

Meanwhile in the women's section, both Vidya Pillai and Chitra lost their final league engagements to Chinese opponents with identical 1-3 margins.

The results:

Men:

Group `C': Pankaj Advani bt Viliame Umu (Fij) 4-0 (69-53, 125-7, 116-7, 72-15).

Group `F': Yasin Merchant bt Gitsue Lum (Fij) 4-2 (59-18, 95-1, 2-63, 33-57, 72-42, 84-0).

Group `H': Brendan O'Donoghue (Ire) bt Alok Kumar 4-3 (35-64, 76-29, 61-37, 48-69, 80-29, 17-44, 66-40).

Women:

Group `A': Pan Xiaoting (Chn) bt Vidya Pillai 3-1 (49-61, 57-52, 42-19, 64-50).

Group `C': Han Fang (Chn) bt Chitra M. 3-1 (29-54, 57-15, 55-42, 66-5).

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Cricket

• Kaif looks ahead with optimism
• Prasanna keen to work with Indian spinners
• BCCI to foot Ganguly's medical bill
• Richie Benaud to hear Akhtar's appeal
  
  Tennis
  
• Bhupathi moves closer to No. 1 spot
• Divij jumps to No. 5 in the world
  
  News Analysis
  
• Lessons from the struggles of the great
  
  Asian Games
  
• India takes on upbeat Rwanda
• 170 Asian athletes confirm participation
• India's chances bright in tennis
  
  Badminton
  
• Lee Chong, Aparna start favourites
  
  Billiards & Snooker
  
• Indian men in knock-out stage
• Points format to be followed at IBSF World meet
  
  Golf
  
• Aussies look to extend their lease on Asia Pacific crown
• Sorenstam, Price, Higuchi inducted into Hall of Fame
  
  Racing : Motor
  
• Narain Karthikeyan finishes second
  
  Judo
  
• India finishes runner-up
  
  

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu