Shivam Arora, India’s leading exponent of heyball, the newest discipline in cue sports, powered into the semifinals at the World Games here on Tuesday.
Arora edged out Hong Kong China’s Yip Kin Ling in a thriller (5-4) to set up a semifinal meeting with Zhang Taiyi, who defeated fellow Chinese cueist Liu Xin 5-3 in another quarterfinal.
In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Arora, ranked No. 5 in the world, held his nerve in the decider to keep his medal hopes alive. The Indian ace, a silver medallist at the inaugural Commonwealth Billiards Championships last month, reduced his rival to a mere spectator in the final rack.
After Kin Ling’s dry break shot, Arora was out of his chair in a jiffy and went about potting in his inimitable style. The 38-year-old made it a start-to-finish affair with fine cue ball control and positioning.
KOTHARI LOSES
Earlier in the morning, National champion Sourav Kothari bowed out in the quarterfinals of the snooker event. The 40-year-old failed to take the chances that came his way and went down 0-2 to China’s Xiao Guodong.
In the opening frame, with the reds scattered on the table, Kothari missed a sitter brown. Guodong replied with a 39, and when the Indian missed a black to the top right-hand pocket, the Chinese cueist sealed the frame.
In the second, after the early safety battles, Guodong potted a long red and rifled in a break of 69 to march into the semis.
Results (Quarterfinals): Heyball mixed: Shivam Arora (Ind) bt Yip Kin Ling (HKC) 5-4; Zhang Taiyi (Chn) bt Liu Xin (Chn) 5-3; Tang Chunxiao (Chn) bt Shi Tianqi (Chn) 5-1; Jason Theron (RSA) bt Alejandro Carvajal (Chi) 5-2.
Men: Snooker: Xiao Guodong (Chn) bt Sourav Kothari (Ind) 2-0 (67-2, 87 (69) -1).
