Pankaj Advani was the lone Indian to post a win on a day when four others were knocked out of the third Indian Open World-ranking snooker tournament at the HICC-Novotel Hotel on Tuesday.
Two other Indians — Dilip Kumar and Ishpreet Chadha — got a walk-over into the main draw.
In the biggest disappointment,country’s top-ranked player and the finalist of the inaugural edition, Aditya Mehta, lost to Jimmy Robertson 4-0. The other Indians to be eliminated were Manan Chandra, Pankaj Chawla, and Lucky Vatnani.
In the morning, Advani shrugged off a slow start to get the better of World No. 109 Fang Xiongman of China 4-2 in the wildcard round and make it to the main draw.
Advani seized on the chances that came his way, especially in the fourth frame (he was down 1-2 at that time), when he trapped Xiongman in a ‘foul and miss’ sequence after falling behind 27-53. “He is a good, attacking player but lacks experience. That is what enabled me dictate terms” said Pankaj. Late in the evening, Anthony Hamilton of England dethroned Michael White 4-1. “Lack of practice was the reason for the defeat,” said White.
The results: First round: Anthony Hamilton (Eng) bt Michael White (Wal) 125(125)-4, 64-42, 29-78(61), 50-45, 66-59; Akani Songsermsawad (Tha) bt Jamie Burnett (Sco) 61-59, 83-1, 27-67, 62-52, 54-50; Joe Swail (NIR) bt Jimmy White (Eng) 81-41, 23-63, 0-96(96), 73-38, 66-31, 59-49; Mathew Stevens (Wal) bt Mark Joyce (Eng) 62-40, 58-60, 94-0, 2-73, 106(106)-0, 92(92)-0; Michael Georgiou (Eng) bt Dechawat Poomjaeng (Tha) 78-29, 5-76, 9-79, 60-43, 88-0, 64-63; Oliver Lines (Eng) bt Graeme Dott (Sco) 72-54, 49-74, 74-35, 73-0, 67-15; Robbie Williams (Eng) w/o Luca Brecel (Bel).
Qualifying round: Jimmy Robertson (Eng) bt Aditya Mehta (Ind) 70-41, 64-5, 58-45, 88(63)-0.
Wildcard round: Zhao Xintong (Chn) bt Kamal Chawla (Ind) 60-47, 26-55, 80-70, 42-71, 76-40, 73-66; Andrew Higginson (Eng) bt Manan Chandra (Ind) 84-13, 57-66, 80-6, 88-34, 70-24; Dilip Kumar (Ind) w/o Hamza Akbar (Pak); Ishpreet Chadha (Ind) w/o Fraser Patrick (Sco); Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Fang Xiongman (Chn) 49-69, 45-72, 56-48, 76-53, 89(66)-1, 89-1; David Grace (Eng) vs Lucky Vatnani (Ind) 58-63, 59-9, 53-41, 128(128)-0, 79-0.
