Bangalore: Indians enjoyed a field day with one of the title favourites Pankaj Advani, the 2002 champion, notching two victories and showing definite signs of running into good form as the IBSF World Snooker Championship commenced here Monday.
Another former champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand also recorded two victories to line himself for a berth in the knock-out stage while veteran Yasin Merchant, playing in his swansong tournament, won both his matches.
Meanwhile, National champion Alok Kumar crashed to a 0-4 defeat against Welshman Lee Walker in the afternoon session after having won his first outing quite comfortably.
“Against Lee, I led in almost all the frames, but he punished me every time I made a mistake. I thought I was playing ok because I made a couple of half-century breaks in the morning. Anyway, there are still a couple of more matches. So, let’s see,” said Alok.
On his part, the 26-year old Advani sought to play down his two wins saying there was still a long way to go in the tournament.
“I played well, but I am not thinking beyond my next match, rather than the knockout stage. The tables were a bit slow, but I suppose, they will open up when more matches are played on them,” said Advani.
Another notable Indian winner was Manan Chandra, the gifted cueist from Delhi, but who has the notoriety for being unpredictable with his game swinging from mediocre to sublime.
In fact, almost all players took time to come to terms with new cloth, cushions and slates, but Poland’s Marcin Nitschke notched the tournament’s first century break with a run of 101, but it did not help him avert a 3-4 defeat against Yaser Elsherbiny of Egypt in a Group D match.
Also cracking the three-figure mark was Mohamed Shehab (UAE) who ran up a break of 112 while defeating Ali Jaafar of France 4-1. (IANS)
