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 shows supremacy
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).
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