‘A’ class show by Indians

The difference between the two teams was undoubtedly the duo of Alok Kumar and Pankaj Advani. If Advani earned five of the first 10 points that the Indians won on the second day, Alok Kumar snatched three points from Saleh Mohammad in the sixth match and then hit the jackpot by winning the lucky seven to earn seven points for his team in the last two matches.

Alok shared equal points with Saleh Mohammad despite losing day’s last but one match 69-65, 76-10 and 0-85 before winning the three-pointer lucky seven singles against Saleh Mohammad 104-34 that included a clearance of 64.

Earlier, Alok had provided a perfect start to his team when he combined with Manan Chandra to beat the team of Mohammad Yousuf and Imran Shahzad 69-45, that included a break of 61 by Chandra.

The day also the match between two world champions when Advani took on the former star and top player of 1993 Mohammad Yusuf. The 19-year-old won 115-5, 59-6, 10-62 that includes two half century breaks in the first frame.

Despite his class act, Advani gave due credit to Alok. ‘‘I think it was a great day for our team. We put our heads down and stuck to task. But I think the decisive factor was Alok’s performance in the last two matches.’’