Advani secures berth in knock-out

Pankaj Advani assured himself a berth in the knock-out stage with his sixth straight victory in the league stage of the juniors section of the World IBSF Under-21 and Seniors Snooker Championships in Manama, Bahrain on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Indian blanked local hope Hussein Al Watani 4-0 in a Group UD match at Juffair Dome.

Advani showed fine form in routing the Bahrain player 60-53, 56-5, 99-8, 112-5 with breaks of 56 and 76. After wins in the first two frames, Advani just about missed the century mark in the third as he stopped short on 99 but he notched it up in the very next frame with a break of 112, which was his fifth 100 in the tournament.

The Indian had an interesting tie against Michael While of Wales whom he defeated 4-1 (83-50, 57-70, 103-8, 69-21, 75-20) yesterday. Advani posted breaks of 84 and 50 against White's 50 and 70 in the best of seven frames match.

Another Indian challenge, Aditya Mehta continued his winning run by beating Ali Faisal Radhi of Bahrain 4-0 in Group UA yesterday. He scored 92-4, 74-15, 76-17, 48-1 in his fifth league match of the tournament, being played in league-cum-knockout format.

Mehta will next take on David Morris in his sixth match.

In the seniors section, former world billiards champion Geet Sethi beat Mohamed Buainnein of Qatar 3-0 (40-30, 67-9, 68-30) in a Group SB match.