Reigning champion Pankaj Advani displayed his pedigree as he easily got past Himanshu Jain (Telangana) 4-1 (43-77, 72-56, 80(61)-33, 64-51, 80(71)-6), in a best-of-7 round of 32 match of the Rs 13.5 lakh CCI Snooker Classic 2025, an all-India tournament, played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones billiards hall on Wednesday.
The national snooker champion Advani representing PSPB, though losing the first frame came back strongly to vanquish Jain with creditable breaks of 61 in the third frame and 71 in the fifth frame to underline his title hopes. This tournament is a happy hunting ground for the Bengaluru cueist having won the last two editions.
On an adjacent table, Aditya Mehta (PSPB) beat Yogesh Kumar (Kar) 4-3 (42-77, 53-86(40), 57-41, 60(41)-49, 87(87)-10, 24-68, 115(66)-8). Aditya the India no.3 constructed a timely break of 66 in the decider to seal a hard-fought win.
Ishpreet Singh Chadha, who is competing in the pro snooker circuit in UK, also stamped his class with a brilliant performance to send E. Pandurangaiah (Rlys) crashing out racing to a 4-1 victory. The Mumbai-based Ishpreet immediately got into his groove and compiled sizeable breaks of 51 (1st frame), 84 (2nd), 105 (3rd) and 84 (5th) to complete a 81-9, 84-1, 115-4, 44-95, 84-25 win and to cruise into the round of 16.
In other close matches that went down to the wire, Nikhil Saigal (Mah) beat Shahbaaz Khan (Mah) 4-3 (73-67, 82-46, 81-67, 23-72, 14-70, 1-68, 70-42) and Dilip Kumar (Rlys) beat Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) 4-3 (78(48)-27, 94(61)-9, 19-99(42), 58-30, 41-71(40), 44-67, 79-13) to also make progress.
Dilip raced to a 3-0 lead before Indian number 5 Haria won the next three to force the decider. However, Kumar regained his winning form to pocket the deciding frame and complete the win and also take a spot in the last sixteen stages.
Results -- round 32: Pushpinder Singh (Rlys) beat Sandeep Gulati (Mah) 4-3 (1-122(54), 4-94(83), 58-21, 113(87)-9, 77(45)-8, 38-93, 64-52); Mohd Hussain Khan (Rlys) beat Marzdi Kalyaniwala (Mah) 4-1 (64-53, 71-32, 53-61, 61-59, 69-0); Dilip Kumar (Rlys) beat Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) 4-3 (78(48)-27, 94(61)-9, 19-99(42), 58-30, 41-71(40), 44-67, 79-13); Digvijay Kadian beat S. Srikrishna (PSPB) 4-3 (48-73, 89(65)-2, 37-83, 59-58, 22-59, 74-49, 63-59); Faisal Khan (Rlys) beat Sourav Kothari (PSPB) 4-1 (60-42, 4-88, 105(51)-11, 101-15, 59-31); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Himanshu Jain (Tel) 4-1 (43-77, 72-56, 80(61)-33, 64-51, 80(71)-6); Aditya Mehta (PSPB) beat Yogesh Kumar (Kar) 4-3 (42-77, 53-86(40), 57-41, 60(41)-49, 87(87)-10, 24-68, 115(66)-8); Nikhil Saigal (Mah) beat Shahbaaz Khan (Mah) 4-3 (73-67, 82-46, 81-67, 23-72, 14-70, 1-68, 70-42); Rayaan Razmi (Mah) beat Jaison Malhotra ( ) 4-0 (76-50, 79(46)-22, 95(68)-44, 64-17);
Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Mah) beat E. Pandurangaiah (Rlys) 4-1 (81(51)-9, 84(84)-1, 115(105)-4, 44-95, 84(84)-25.