The Hindu : Sport : Pankaj Advani knocked out by Brabin

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Pankaj Advani knocked out by Brabin

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Meenal Thakur and Chitra Magimairaj fail to get going

— PHOTO: AP

DISTURBED: India’s Pankaj Advani (left) having a word with the referee as Cyprus’s Anthony Brabin looks on in the World snooker championship on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: The Indian challenge suffered huge setbacks as former World champion and India’s best bet in the men’s section Pankaj Advani was knocked out and the two Indians in the women’s section failed once again to get past the quarterfinal stage of a World championship in the ONGC-IBSF World snooker championship at HICC Hall here on Sunday.

On Sunday morning Anthony Brabin of Cyprus stunned the sparse crowd brushing aside Pankaj Advani in the men’s round of 32 with a 77-59, 70-45, 71-0, 44-73, 65-55, 2-62, 30-65, 67-23 win.

Later in the night, 21-year-old Kamal Chawla ensured that Brabin’s joy was short-lived as the Indian knocked him out with a 7-70, 51-69, 72-61, 120-14, 65-15, 73-53, 103-15 notching up breaks of 106 in the fourth and 78 in the final frames.

Exacting revenge

Clearly surprising Advani with a game which was far superior to whatever he had played so far, Brabin, exacted revenge for the loss he had suffered at the hands of the Indian in the 2004 World championship.

Advani, by his own confession, struggled from the start and never really got into the groove.

“I don’t want to offer any excuses. He deserved to win for he played much better,” the Indian said. “I think the first and fifth frames proved to be decisive and if I had won those two, may be I would have got the momentum back,” Advani said.

In the women’s quarterfinals, both National champion Meenal Thakur and former World billiards champion Chitra Magimairaj failed to get going under pressure.

Defensive style

Chitra was surprised by the defensive style of game from the Kiwi player Ramona Belmont who is known for her aggression. Chitra’s potting left a lot to be desired as Ramona won 90-66, 40-84, 70-32, 60-39, 75-38.

Meenal falters

For Meenal Thakur it was a question of faltering at crucial junctures despite a wonderful fight back after being down 0-3.

This was glaring in the sixth frame when Meenal had fluked a pink and then had only black as the decider to extend the issue into the seventh frame.

But, instead of going for safety play, she went for the kill from a very thin angle with the help of the rest and ended up putting the black closer to the pocket.

This eventually saw Kathy finish the job with 58-13, 49-40, 70-39, 46-72 23-44, 54-42 victory for her career-best performance in a World championship.

The results: Masters: Pre-quarterfinals: Darren Morgan (Wal) bt K. Ranjan (Ind) 69-1, 81-18, 66-21, 62-19; Mark Rowing (Eng) bt Munier Cassim (SA) 62-27, 65-21, 49-72, 64-11, 16-53, 9-54, 70-43; Simon Zammit (Mal) bt Devendra Joshi (Ind) 48-32, 67-23, 62-34, 60-10; Noppadon Noppachrn (Tha) bt B.V.S. Murthy (Ind) 65-26, 62-22, 104-10, 92-0; Kamal Chawla (Ind) bt Anthony Grabin (Cyprus) 7-70, 51-69, 72-61, 120-14, 65-15, 73-53, 103-15; Igor Fiegueiredo (Brazil) bt Yasin Merchant (Ind) 70-32, 58-5, 44-92, 78-18, 71-21, 60-1.

Men: Round of 32: Anthony Brabin (Cyp) bt Pankaj Advani (Ind) 77-59, 70-45, 71-0, 44-73, 65-55, 2-62, 30-65, 67-23; Lucky Vatnani (Ind) bt R. Girish (Ind) 44-77, 73-39, 56-70, 75-42, 64-7, 74-7, 62-45; Philip Wiliams (Wal) bt Muhammed Sajjad (Pak) 60-30, 70-57, 36-58, 65-12, 11-53, 54-46, 75-46; Anthony McGill (Scot) bt Manan Chandra (Ind) 82-20, 2-71, 80-46, 64-50, 35-71, 85-24, 44-75, 73-39; Gavin Pantall (Wal) bt Aditya Mehta (Ind) 55-48, 33-63, 21-79, 67-55, 111-0, 85-0, 55-65, 26-65; Alfie Burden (Eng) bt Nader K. Sultani (Afgh) 12-74, 77-12, 58-49, 45-66, 68-40, 0-84, 60-52, 72-1; Mohd Al-Joaker (UAE) bt James Mifsud (Aus) 75-16, 0-109, 74-67, 28-84, 74-63, 30, 63, 79-32, 12-79, 128-13;

Habib Subah Habib (Bah) bt Mario Fernandez (Ire) 61-7, 64-26, 72-33, 69-76, 91-4, 64-21; Yuttapop Pakpoj (Thai) bt IH Manudev (Ind) 82-23, 62-37, 66-55, 64-23, 66-42. Kamal Chawla (Ind) bt Alex Borg (Malta) 54-70, 60-54, 61-53, 12-61, 80-25, 15-77, 64-1, 45-56, 68-22; Igor Fugueiredo (Bra) bt Patrick Einsle (Ger) 67-36, 2-55, 10-60, 91-26, 75-13, 64-35, 80-24; Yasin Merchant (Ind) bt Alok Kumar (Ind) 76-37, 37-54, 61-11, 53-1, 76-9, 88-0.

Ladies: Quarterfinals: Ramona Belmont (Nzl) bt Chitra Magimairaj (Ind) 90-66, 40-84, 70-32, 60-39, 75-38; Kathy Parashis (Aus) bt Meenal Thakur (Ind) 58-13, 49-40, 70-39, 46-72, 23-44, 54-42.

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