The country’s most decorated cue sports player Pankaj Advani of PSPB was cool and composed as he patiently went about his task to underline his supremacy and sent India No. 2 Sparsh Pherwani of Maharashtra crashing out, registering a 5-3 (59-58, 95-0, 42-77, 62-34, 5-79, 49-55, 72-27, and 84-1) victory in the best-of-9-frame quarter-final match of the Cricket Club of India organized Rs 12.1 lakh prize-money CCI Snooker Classic 2023, and played at the CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall late on Thursday evening.
Advani, holder of 25 World titles, came from behind to win a tight opening frame and then constructed a 61 run to pocket the second before Pherwani made a break of 55 to win the third. Pherwani lost the fourth but bounced back by winning the next to level the frames scores at 3-all. Advani halted Pherwani’s charge by winning the next two frames, and that too, in style by smartly rolling in 68 point break to complete the win.
Earlier, Indian No. 3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha of Mahrashtra was in sparkling form as he brilliantly constructed four substantial breaks in as many frames to register an authoritative 5-1 win against Pushpender Singh of Railway in another quarter-final match.
The National 6-red snooker champion, Ishpreet produced efforts of 58, 74, 84, and 73 in the opening four frames to take a healthy 4-0 lead. Pushpender, not prepared to give up, easily compiled a break of 76 to pocket the fifth and avoid a whitewash. However, Ishpreet did not take much to wrap up the contest as he potted steadily to take the sixth to complete a 82-1, 74-10, 84-5, 74-28, 43-84, and 65-22 victory.
In another one-sided last eight encounter, Indian No. 1 and National champion Kamal Chawla of Railway dished out a compact steady performance and went on to record a stunning win against PSPB cueist Laxman Rawat (PSPB) by a quick 5-0 (87-30, 52-50, 88-5, 77-19, 82-30) frame scores. Chawla’s best efforts were 57 in the fourth and 82 in the fifth to seal the victory and book his place in the semi-final.
Results – Quarter-finals: Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Mah) bt Pushpender Singh (Rlys) 5-1 (82(58)-1, 74(74)-10, 84(84)-5, 74(73)-28, 43-84(76), 65-22); Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Laxman Rawat (PSPB) 5-0 (87-30, 52-50, 88-5, 77(57)-19, 82(82)-30); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Sparsh Pherwani (Mah) 5-3 (59-58, 95(61)-0, 42-77(51), 62-34, 5-79, 49-55, 72-27, 84(68)-1).