Asian Billiards: Narrow victory for Advani, Sethi

Pankaj Advani began his title defence with a narrow 3-2 victory over Surya Suwannasinh of Thailand on the second day of Asian Billiards Championships on Monday.

Advani scrapped past Suwannasinh 100-54, 68(62)-100, 101(67)-91, 46-101(73), 101-35 in a thrilling contest at the Yeshwant Club in Indore.

Advani's compatriots Geet Sethi and Devendra Joshi also won their respective matches via deciding frames.

Sethi beat Pauk Sa of Myanmar 3-2 (102 (79)-66(54), 60(50)-100(52), 100-76, 61-101, 100-73 while Joshi defeated another Myanmarese Kyaw Oo 3-2 (21-101(65), 101(53)-47, 100(54)-56, 80(62)-101, 100(48)-97(70).

Ashok Shandilya, however, scored a comfortable 3-0 victory over Khin Mg Oo of Myanmar while Dhruv Sitwala lost to Praput C of Thailand.

In the Asian Under-21 Snooker, the Indian challenge ended when Chinese boy Liu Chuang beat Shahbaz Khan 4-1 in the quarter-final.

Shahbaz lost 51-71, 67-60, 27-67, 15-91(91), 08-92(43).