Thukral makes a clean sweep

Though low on experience, Thukral proved his mettle as he fought his way back from hopeless situations. Sultan, who is called Joker8217; in snooker circles, took an early 22-point lead in the first frame. The break ended when he missed the brown ball. Not one to lose an opportunity, Thukral potted the brown followed it with the blue, pink and black to level scores at 54-all.

In the tie-breaker, Sultanplayed a safe shot to place the black ball just below the baulk line on the right with the cue ball kissing the side cushion near the top left pocket. But he probably underestimated his opponent who made no mistake with a cross shot to pot the ball.

Having started with a bang, the junior No 2 came up with small but consistent breaks to take a 2-0 lead.

Sultan recovered well in the third. An unfinished break of 54 saw the UAE player, who till last year trained under Yasin Merchant, take the third frame 85-49. Losing the third frame 37-57, a break of 36 helped Sultan pocket the next to keep the game alive.

The last frame turned out to be a replay of the first. Leading 54-50, Sultan, while trying to play a safe shot, sold out the pink near the centre-pocket to his rival who played it to perfection.

Thukral now takes on Group A runner-up Sarang Shroff in the quarters. The latter cracked the day8217;s only century break of 103 while scoring a comfortable 4-1 win over Geet Sethi.

Quarter-finalLine-up

Yasin Merchant vs Ashok Shandilya, Rishabh Thukral vs Sarang Shroff, Peter Gilchrist vs Siddharth Rao, C Praprut vs Group B runner-up

Results League

Group A: Geet Sethi bt Md Shehab 4-2 58-39, 51-59, 62-25, 69-32, 42-79, 63-12; Yasin Merchant bt Md Shehab 4-1 64-33, 50-61, 92-36, 56-21, 67-28; Sarang Shroff bt Geet Sethi 4-1 124-1, 68-8, 50-69, 67-8, 65-0; Md Shehab bt Shakeel Ahmed 4-3 63-19, 71-37, 47-57, 70-42, 62-69, 42-58, 62-54; Yasin Merchant bt Sarang Shroff 4-1 24-58, 67-37, 66-45, 96-0, 60-12

Group B: Alok Kumar bt Jitender Singh Dawer 4-3 40-52, 49-62, 47-59, 66-14, 44-0, 81-32, 56-8, 61-15; Peter Gilchrist UK bt Alok Kumar 4-2 First frame conceeded, 1-61, 67-53, 72-30, 67-37, 77-8; Jitender Singh Dawer bt Shyam Jagtiani 4-1 22-68, 72-18, 72-50, 84-21, 64-15; Alok Kumar bt Manan Chandra 4-0 95-26, 59-37, 75-31, 71-23; Peter Gilchrist UK bt Shyam Jagtiani 4-2 122-8, 55-43, 75-15, 21-53, 63-67, 69-56

Group C: Devendra Joshi bt Harish Gandhi 4-274-32, 60-34, 63-38, 56-58, 55-69, 74-20; C Praprut Thai bt Devendra Joshi 4-3 51-63, 56-50, 91-1, 97-0, 63-67, 50-64, 82-47; Siddharth Rao bt Harish Gandhi 4-2 62-28, 26-61, 75-01, 58-49, 30-64, 67-4; C Praprut Thai bt Siddhrath Rao 4-0 67-7, 78-0, 62-23, 61-51

Group D: MJ Sultan UAE bt Subhash Agrawal 4-1 73-26, 62-8, 65-32, 4-67, 86-54; Ashok Shandilya bt Md Sultan UAE 4-1 80-13, 47-27, 56-67, 71-58, 81-46; Dharmender Lilly bt Subhash Agrawal 4-3 65-43, 69-51, 65-25, 26-63, 42-65, 12-74, 64-50; Rishabh Thukral bt Md Sultan UAE 4-2 61-54, 72-34, 49-85, 57-37, 37-67, 60-50; Ashok Shandilya bt Dharmender Lilly 4-2 51-76, 88-0, 49-78, 54-44, 112-0, 73-30