Recently crowned Asian Snooker Champion Pankaj Advani (PSPB) maintained his excellent winning streak as he eased past teammate Laxman Rawat (PSPB) 4-2 in his penultimate Men’s ‘Y’ Camp (1st leg) round-robin league match of the GSC World Snooker Qualifiers, a BSFI National Selection Tournament, organized by The Sportal and played at the Goregaon Sports Club on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old India ranked number 2, Pankaj, who last month clinched the Asian title in Doha, Qatar last month, dished out a steady composed performance to dash the challenge from Laxman and cruised to victory with the frame scores reading 61-67, 67-19, 84-23, 65-48, 43-75 and 68-31 in his favour. This was Pankaj’s fifth straight win in the selection tournament and he has a match in hand against National champion Aditya Mehta also of PSPB.
Earlier, the 35-year-old India number one Aditya recorded his fourth win defeating Laxman 4-3 in his fifth round match. The lanky Aditya who had suffered a 2-4 defeat at the hands of Dhvaj Haria in the third round, came up with the goods when it mattered most to carve out a 131(65)-00, 35-69, 20-76, 72-20 00-93(75), 60-47 and 65-31 victory.
In women’s Y-camp action, Tamil Nadu cueists Varsha Sanjeev and Anupama Ramchandran, both enjoyed smooth sailing winning their respective fifth round matches in three straight frames on Wednesday morning.
The India No. 3 Varsha, who was beaten 1-3 by National champion Vidya Pillai of Karnataka in a late Tuesday evening encounter, managed to put that setback behind and went on to score a stunning 3-0 victory against Madhya Pradesh’s Indian number 2 Amee Kamani in a well-contested fifth round match. Both Varsha and Amee played cautiously and the contest was a closely fought affair as the scores ran close throughout. But, in the third frame Varsha produced a solid effort rolling in a break of 50 points to snatch the frame to clinch a deserving 54-42, 65-53 and 60(50)-55 victory.
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Anupama, the National Sub-junior snooker champion blanked seasoned campaigner Chitra Magimairaj (KTK) with a fluent 3-0 (66-15, 62-32 and 58-46) scores. The TN teenager Anupama, who also holds the Sub-junior and Junior billiards crowns, had earlier overcome Maharashtra’s Arantxa Sanchis (MAH) by a 3-1 (67-36, 54-3, 37-74 and 65-39) scoreline.
Other Results – Women’s Y-camp (1st leg): Arantxa Sanchis (MAH) beat Keerath Bhandaal (DEL) 3-2 (46-79, 52-37, 26-58, 53-37, 67-61); Varsha Sanjeev (TN) beat Amee Kamani (MP) 3-0 (54-42, 65-53, 60(50)-55); Anupama Ramachandran (TN) beat Chitra Magimairaj (KTK) 3-0 (66-15, 62-32, 58-46).
Tuesday night: Keerath Bhandaal (DEL) beat Chitra Magimairaj (KTK) 3-0 (67-40, 60-22, 52-51); Vidya Pillai (KTK) beat Varsha Sanjeev (TN) 3-1 (56-23, 60-56, 21-69, 71-32); Anupama Ramachandran (TN) beat Arantxa Sanchis (MAH) 3-1 (67-36, 54-3, 37-74, 65-39).
Men’s Y-camp (1st leg): Neeraj Kumar (RSPB) beat Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) 4-1 (100(59)-00, 65-17, 14-49, 82-20, 66-39); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Laxman Rawat (PSPB) 4-2 (61-67, 67-19, 84-23, 65-48, 43-75, 68-31); Pushpender Singh (RSPB) beat Himanshu Jain (TEL) 4-2 (74-53, 43-78, 44-67, 81-53, 68-65, 73-50.
Tuesday night: Neeraj Kumar (RSPB) beat Himanshu Jain (TEL) 4-1 (69(44)-65, 01-71(47), 103(71)-07, 101(76)-06, 87(44)-19); Aditya Mehta (PSPB) beat Laxman Rawat (PSPB) 4-3 (131(65)-00, 35-69, 20-76, 72-20 00-93(75), 60-47, 65-31); Pushpender Singh (RSPB) beat Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) 4-3 (34-84, 72-48, 58-36, 61-55, 55-64, 38-53, 61-31).