Advani in World Snooker Championship semifinals

B D Narayankar

Press Trust of India

Bangalore, Dec 2: Sticking true to his reputation, local lad Pankaj Advani on Friday entered the semifinals of the IBSF World Snooker Championship defeating Belgium's Peter Bullen 6-2. Advani will now play Wales' Lee Walker, who caused a major upset, defeating former world snooker champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand 6-2.
Played in front of fairly packed KSBA auditorium, the quarterfinal got off to a flying start as Advani powered a break of 62 clinching the opening frame 71-7. But he conceded the next frame when his opponent crafted a break of 123.
The third frame followed a similar path but was decided on a superb snooker laid by Bullen. Advani failed to hit the colours on the cushion and as a result it left him out of the contention to claim the frame.
At 1-2, it appeared that Advani was down and out but he engineered a break of 62 in the fourth frame to make it 2-2.
An excellent break of 47 in the fifth frame seemed to rejuvenate Advani and he quickly claimed the hard-fought frame 67-50. The next three frames was all about Advani as the seven-time world champion dominated from the start of each frames.
The ace Indian cueist got off to a perfect start in the sixth frame as he fashioned a break of 63, winning the frame 70-9. Advani won the seventh frame 69-16.
Bullen tried fighting his way back into the game but was unable to get the crucial colours and when Advani constructed a break of 43 in the eighth frame, it was all over for the Belgian cueist.
Iran's Hossein Vafei Ayouri also stormed into the semifinals when he defeated Ireland's Brendan O'Donoghue 6-2.