Sethi survives,Advani strolls

Geet Sethi shrugged off a first-frame deficit to beat Kuwait’s Ayyoub Alsharrah in the masters category while world champion Pankaj Advani continued his brilliant run in the men’s event by defeating compatriot Sandeep Gulati in the IBSF World Snooker Championship.

After surrendering the first frame to Zammit,Sethi got his act together and struck the balls with sheer excellence to compile a break of 68 to draw level. Sethi’s potting and smooth cushion work helped him win the remaining two frames. Alsharrah is yet to open his account. Sethi won 15-71 68-29 43-41 83-07 to settle for second position in Group B behind Malta’s Simon Zammit.

National billiards and snooker champion Advani got the better off Gulati 4-1 to retain top position in his Group A. Advani won 98(66)-00,70-48,66(55)-15,42-65,77-41. Veteran Yasin Merchant,Aditya Mehta and Kamal Chawla won to keep their knockout-stage hopes alive