Pankaj Advani starts Asian Snooker Championship on winning note

Pankaj Advani claimed twin victories on the opening day of the Asian Snooker Championship to make a positive start to his campaign on Monday. Defending champion Advani is in Group A with Mansour Alobaidli from Qatar, Mohamed Thaha Irshath from Sri Lanka and recently-crowned world snooker champion Ahsan Ramzan from Pakistan. Advani, a multiple-time world snooker and billiards champion, beat Mohamed Thaha Irshath 4-2 in his first match.

The Indian started with a break of 52 to win the first frame but lost the second. Later, he won the next two frames to lead 3-1 and after that Thaha crafted a break of 55 to cut the deficit. However, Advani won the 6th frame with a decent margin to seal the match 4-2.

In his second match against Mansour Alobaidli, the 36-year-old from Pune was in a different zone as after winning the first frame he crafted breaks of 50 and 58 in the second frame, 110 in the third and 75 in the fourth frame to close the match in less than an hour. "(I am) Happy to start the Asian Championship on a winning note. My young opponent was high on confidence after two good performances in the World Championships (Junior and Senior) so it was never going to be easy.

Glad to get over the line," Pankaj was quoted as saying in a media statement. The championship is being played here at the QBSF Academy.