Advani cruises into knockouts with a clean sheet

Indian ace Pankaj Advani cruised into the knock-out stage of the Asian Snooker Championship without losing a single frame at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation Academy yesterday.Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Aseeri lines up a shot against Iraq’s Ibrahim Adel during their Group D match yesterday. Aseeri won 4-0 (64-14, 61-01, 66-23, 61-05).In his final group game, Pankaj overcame Philippines’ Alvin Barbero easily. Not taking much time, he defeated Barbero 4-0 (68-20, 70-13, 111-5, 82-9) including a break of 90 in his third frame, to enter the knock-out stage of the tournament.The top seed and last year’s runner-up finished his league engagements, winning all three matches in Group A. Pankaj won his first match defeating Saudi Arabia’s Sulaiman Almisfer 4-0 (84-26, 81-6, 76-23, 70-15). In his second match, Advani had defeated Qatar’s Ali Alobaidli in straight frames 75-24, 138-4, 133-0, 84-28.In pursuit of his only missing trophy -- the Asian Snooker Title, the 15-time World Champion, said about his performance: “I am glad to have hit the ground running at the Championship. The breaks on Day 2 and 3 have definitely helped with my confidence level going into the knock-out stages. However, the competition has just started and I will work towards staying focused and delivering my best at the table.”It was a disappointing day for Qatar’s cueists as only Mohsen Abdul Rehman won his match yesterday. Rehman beat Maylis Atyev of Turkmenistan 4-1 (12-49, 63(50)-17, 70-09, 65-27, 76(54)-35).Ahmed Saif, who had won his previous two matches, also lost on the day to Pakistan’s Muhammad Sajjad 4-0 (71(66)-33, 71-38, 69-45, 91(73)-00). Qatar’s other cueists Abdul Latif Alfawal, Mhanna Alobaidli, Khaled Alsalem and Mohsen Buksiasha lost their respective matches. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s trio of Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad and Mohammad Bilal moved into the last-32 stage. Yesterday, Asif lost to Omar Alajlani of Saudi Arabia 4-0 (77-36, 123(69)-01, 74-52, 86(76)-06) but the 34-year-old from Faisalabad had won his three previous matches. The former winner of the World Amateur Snooker Championship had defeated Qatar’s Abdul Lateef al-Fawal 4-1 with scores of 97-29 (89), 79-40, 64-63, 25-79 and 73-43, while he was involved in a tougher match against Syria’s Karam Fatima, which he won 4-3. It was a see-saw encounter between the two and at one point Karam led 3-2. However, Asif bounced back and won the final two frames to finish 69-62, 36-55, 80-40, 55-67, 34-72, 75-14 and 62-45 and shock the Syrian. Asif joined compatriots Sajjad and Bilal, who are also unbeaten in the tournament yet. Selected resultsGroup APankaj Advani (India) beat Alvin Barbero (Philippines) 4-0 (68-20, 70-13, 111-5, 82-9) Group BKhaled Alsalat (Palestine) beat Abdul Latif Alfawal (Qatar) 4-1 (68-16, 62-60, 44-58, 88-57(57), 105(105)-08)Omar Alajlani (Saudi Arabia) beat Muhammad Asif (Pakistan) 4-0 (77-36, 123(69)-01, 74-52, 86(76)-06)Group CA. Mohsen Abdul Rehman (Qatar) beat Maylis Atyev (Turkmenistan) 4-1 (12-49, 63(50)-17, 70-09, 65-27, 76(54)-35)Group DAhmed Aseeri (Saudi Arabia) beat Ibrahim Adel (Iraq) 4-0 (64-14, 61-01, 66-23, 61-05)Group EAlijalil Ali (Iraq) beat Mhanna Alobaidli (Qatar) 4-3 (54-61, 69-18, 76-01, 70-04, 51-56, 54-56, 55-26)Group FJefrey Roda (Philippines) beat Annamamed Annamamedov (Turkmenistan) 4-1 (55-05, 71-45, 18-59, 65-48, 66-15)Group HChee Keong Chan (Singapore) beat Khaled Alsalem (Qatar) 4-1 (53-45, 51-22, 56-50, 22-60, 54-15)Group JMuhammad Sajjad (Pakistan) beat Ahmed Saif (Qatar) 4-0 (71(66)-33, 71-38, 69-45, 91(73)-00)Au Chi Chung (Hong Kong) beat Mohamed Shamil (Sri Lanka) 4-0 (67-23, 65-32, 58-33, 84-20)Group KSoheil Vahedi (iran) beat Moh Keen Hoo (Malaysia) 4-3 (74(67)-16, 43-80(57), 61-47, 64(59)-21, 05-62, 14-70, 70(70)-17)Ishpreet Singh Chadha (India) beat Hwang Chulho (South Korea) 4-1 (91(75)-00, 93(55)-09, 83-28, 23-67(51), 76-14)Group LYuttapop Pakpoj (Thailand) beat Mohsen Buksiasha (Qatar) 4-3 (66-08,82-27,62-24,29-73,38-79,61-68,73-62)Ali Hussain (Iraq) beat Hussain Mahmood (Bahrain) 4-2 (49-56, 59-43, 72-44, 12-53, 65-09, 74(63)-05)Group MArman Dinarvand (Iran) beat Robby Suarly (Indonesia) 4-0 (59-42, 72-41, 72-01, 95-52)