Bangalore: Seven-time world champion Pankaj Advani stormed into the quarter-finals of the IBSF World Snooker Championship, overwhelming an error-prone Craig Macgillivray of Scotland 5-3 in a hard-fought battle at KSBA on Thursday.
The ace Indian cueist trumped the field to win the match by beating his opponent 86-1, 8-86, 104-0, 5-82, 54-18, 93-4, 10-66 and 69-15.
"I am exhausted after playing for the fourth day in a row and I guess, it is the same with others too," said a visibly relieved Advani, who is hoping to win his second World Snooker title after eight years in front of an adoring home crowd.
The 26-year old Advani posted two brilliant breaks of 104 in the third frame and 93 in the sixth while McGillvray, in a catch-up mode all the time, caved in under pressure and had his best moments while making breaks of 70 and 54.
Kamal Chawla also joined compatriot Advani in the quarter-finals after registering a dazzling comeback against India's Alok Kumar. He outplayed the reigning Asian Billiards champion 5-4 (66-1, 4-120, 58, 58), 26-66 (50), 68-59 (51), 37-67, 23-76, 69 (69)-20, 67-31, 57-12. The match lasted nearly four hours at the end of which Alok could barely stand. The national champion, who barely survived a five-hour marathon against Poland's Krzysztof Wrobel in the previous round, was back at the table less than 30 minutes later, and squandered a 4-2 lead to lose to compatriot Kamal.
Advani breezed through the initial frame by crafting a neat break of 60, which saw him take a 1-0 lead. But Craig replied strongly with a 41 break to level frames 1-1. Advani again went past Craig after firing a superb 104, and yet again Craig replied with a 70 to level frames 2-2 for the second time. The Indian cueist then showed what a superb player he is by seizing the opportunity as a result of the uncharacteristic miss by Craig.
An excellent break of 93 in the sixth frame scripted Advani's 4-2 lead over his Scottish rival. But a timely break of 54 cut the deficit 4-3 in favour of Craig. The last frame was all about Advani as he dominated from the start of the frame, forcing Craig to concede at 69-15.
Meanwhile, Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh also made it the the last-eight after crushing England's Martin O'Donnell 5-1. Starting of well by the first frame 134-1, Un-Nooh lost his touch mid-way when O'Donnell fashioned third and fourth frame victories. The Thai, however, bounced back, claiming last three frames with finesse.
Australia's Steve Mifsud, the 2002 champion, was among the biggest casualties as he crashed to a 0-5 defeat to Belgian Kevin van Hove-Speltinckx. Mifsud, who had earlier tamed India's Yasin Merchant who was playing his last competitive match ahead of retirement 5-4 in a very punishing encounter, had little left in the tank against the Belgian, who capitalized fully on the rather uncharacteristic mistakes by his visibly tired opponent.
Earlier in the day, it was Merchant who provided some drama as he all but defeated Mifsud while coming back from 1-3 and 2-4 deficits to force the decider. The 45-year-old Merchant marked his fightback with a sublime break of 127 clearance besides two runs of 67, before Mifsud closed the match with an authoritative 68 in the ninth.
"I thought I had him and he was under pressure. However, my concentration and focus kept wavering. During the 127 break, I was in the zone, but in the decider, he came up with a brilliant 68 and that was it," said Merchant.
In Friday's quarter-finals to be played over 11 frames, Advani meets Belgium's Peter Bullen, who accounted for Iran's Ehsan Heydari Nezhad 5-1.
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