File photo of Pankaj Advani.
Multiple world champion Pankaj Advani survived a scare against qualifier Santosh R. of Karnataka before snatching a tight 4-3 win in a men's 6-Red first-round match of the 88th National Billiards & Snooker Championship here on Monday.
In ladies' first-round encounters, Madhya Pradesh's Amee Kamani and Ishika Shah sailed into the second round. Amee got the better of Tamil Nadu's Neena Praveen, winning 4-1 (49-10, 34-01, 22-45, 14-37, 37-01). Ishika caused a flutter by defeating Karnataka's seasoned Chitra Maghimairaj in five frames 4-1 (13-34, 57-12, 56-12, 25-11).
Pankaj produced a late flourish against his Karnataka rival and went on to carve out a tense 27-28, 39-00, 42-28, 45-00, 00-45, 08-35, and 66-00 win to advance to the second round.
"The 6-Red snooker format is unpredictable just like T20 cricket. Any move can change the whole turn of the game. I am happy to win a closely fought match against Santosh with whom I practice occasionally in Bengaluru.
"It was a neck-to-neck contest and I am aiming to improve my performance for the upcoming matches in the Nationals," said Pankaj.
Results: Snooker 6-Red - Ladies 1st round: Rewanna Uma Devi (KAR) beat Pooja Galundia (RAJ) 49-17, 28-38, 17-21, 38-32, 48-38; Varsha Sanjeev (Kar) beat Renu Barkatiya (MP) 33-19, 41-29, 09-22, 49-02; Ishika Shah (MP) beat Chitra Maghimairaj (KAR) 13-34, 57-12, 56-12, 25-11; Amee Kamani (MP) beat Neena Praveen (TN) 49-10, 34-01, 22-45, 14-37, 37-01; Vidya Pillai (KAR) beat Suman Chavan (MAH) 71-01, 54-13, 69(53)-13.
Men's 1st round: Pushpinder Singh (RSPB) beat Dilip Kumar (RSPB) 21-34, 27-29, 43-32, 53-01, 44-18, 24-34, 44-00; Rahul Sachdev (MAH) beat Mushtaq Khan (TEL) 31-32, 58-08, 38-18, 50-00, 56-08; Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Santosh R. (KAR) 27-28, 39-00, 42-28, 45-00, 00-45(45), 08-35, 66-00; Sourav Kothari (PSPB) beat Shahbaz Adil Khan (PSPB) 13-40, 39-07, 32-07, 13-49, 43-10, 23-22; Kreish Gurbaxani (MAH) beat M.L. Lakshman (KAR) 14-42, 08-64(64), 00-41, 38-08, 62-04, 40-21, 41-08; Ishpreet Singh Chadha (MAH) beat Taaha Khan (MAH) 26-04, 62-09, 58-01, 53-11.
