Cue king beats England’s Causton 5-0 to advance to next round
Pankaj Advani lines up a shot during his match at the IBSF World Snooker Championship at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
(Photo: R. SAMUEL)
Bengaluru: The positive significance of grey and black is elegance and power. Dressed in steel grey trouser-bowtie teamed with a black shirt, hometown hero Pankaj Advani was a perfect blend of both the characteristics which come quite naturally to him. The home crowd’s over enthusiasm, which at times was more annoyance rather than comforting, notwithstanding, Advani stormed into the quarterfinals of the Seaways-IBSF World Snooker Championships here on Thursday night.
Advani who hasn’t quite looked at ease since the start of the event, was back to his normal self with controlled aggression blended seamlessly with finesse.In the last 16 clash at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium, Advani toyed with Ryan Causton, earning himself a berth in the next round with a 5-0 verdict.In the quarterfinals, Advani will take on the highly talented teenage sensation from China, Yao Bingtao who had a red-hot cue on the night as he defeated India’s Varun Madan 5-1 and warmed up for Advani’s challenge with a 109 clearance break in the fourth frame.
Another Chinese player who was in blazing form was last year’s bridesmaid Zhao Xintong who made light work of Indian hope Lucky Vatnani (Ind) 5-0 in lightening speed, finishing the match in an hour and 15 minutes. The 17-year-old victor will take on Adrian Ridley of Australia who shut out Shivam Arora 5-1. In the pre-quarterfinals contest Advani was in fine nick, potting a break of 40 in his initial visits. His effective use of deft potting and solid safety game sent Causton searching for answers.
With a clearance of 55, Advani took the frame 99-9. The only time the Englishman looked like he could trouble Advani was in the second frame when he stitched together small breaks to take a 61-0 lead over his fancied opponent. Soon,. Advani broke away, finding a red which he backed up with a pink and cleared the table with 34 points to edge out Causton 62-61.
Causton snooked Advani a couple of times in the next frame but he couldn’t do much to block the champion cueists victory march thereafter. Earlier in the round of 32, Advani was on song right from the word go against a spirited Laxman Rawat, claiming a 5-1 win. A break of 126 ensured a resounding start to Advani’s day. Although Rawat, the 22-year-old talented Delhi lad delighted with his potting, he failed to match Advani’s experience or skill.
Meanwhile, one of the pre-tournament favourite’s Thor Chuanleong made an exit, surrendering tamely to Pakistani dark horse Muhammad Sajjad 1-5. Indian women had a disappointing day at the tables as youngsters Varshaa Sanjeev, Arantxa Sanchis and Amee Kamani too made an exit.
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