Three Indian cueists in last 16

World amateur snooker champion Pankaj Advani, national champion Alok Kumar and Yasin Merchant registered their third straight victories to make sure of a place in the knock-out phase of the Asian Snooker Championship, being played at Aqaba, Jordan.

Advani faced his first real resistance in the championship from Imram Shahzad of Pakistan but emerged victorious 4-2 while Alok Kumar defeated Chih-Wei Ku of Chinese Taipei to book a place in the pre-quarterfinals.

Former Asian champion Merchant, who played his third league encounter late last night, had no problems in blanking Sadr Idin Hussein of Iraq 4-0 and maintaining his record of not losing a frame so far.

The trio play their last league matches later tonight. It will decide their opponents in the last 16.