Jans stays unbeaten on Day One

Unbeaten in the last five championships, six-time champion Wendy Jans of Belgium started her campaign in the IBSF World Snooker Championships with a century break at Al Arabi Sports Club yesterday.
Jans, who has won the last five world titles, in the process thumped Australia’s Theresa Whitten 3-0.
Jans’ magnificent clearance of 102 points in the first frame was the highlight of the morning session on the first day of the competition.
Elsewhere in the women’s competition, Thailand’s Waratthanun Sukritthanes clinched a 3-0 win over Russia’s Aleksandra Bogatyreva with a 57-point break.
Former world No.2 Anastasia Nechaeva of Russia beat Hong Kong’s Pui Ying Chu 3-0.
Among the men, Asjad Iqbal of Pakistan took just over an hour to complete a 4-0 win over Qatar’s Waleed Majed. Iqbal’s win in the first session of the first day’s competition saw him make breaks of 58, 65 and 51 to beat Majed.
Former champion Mohamed Asif of Pakistan notched a 4-0 win over Yemen’s Emad Seif. Asif’s compatriots Imran Shahzad, Khurram Agha and Mohamed Yousuf too posted victories on day one, while Mohamed Naseem Akhtar was beaten 1-4 by Russia’s Ivan Kakovsky.
Bashar Abdulmajeed and Mohsen Bukshaisha were the only two winners for hosts Qatar on the day. While Abdulamajeed beat Syrian 15-year-old Yazan Alhadad 4-2, Bukshaisha blanked Iran’s Ali Reza Jokar 3-0.
Last year’s runner-up Andrew Pagett of Wales beat Ales Herout of Czech Republic 4-0, while two-time IBSF snooker champion Pankaj Advani of India too registered a 4-0 win over Heikki Niva of Finland.
Advani had won the 150-Up format world billiards title, his 17th world title overall, on Wednesday.
His compatriots Laxman Rawat, Rafath Habib and Pandurangaiah E too posted wins, while Cherag Ramakrishnan suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Ireland’s Brian McPhee.
Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo, the 2009 runner-up, returned to IBSF competition after eight years.
He first played in the IBSF Snooker championship in 2009 in Hyderabad, India, where he played Alfie Burden of England in the final, and finished runner-up after a close 8-10 game.
On his second appearance in tournament yesterday, he beat Ukraine’s Vladyslav Vyshnevskyy 4-1, armed with breaks of 60 and 73 points.