ABU DHABI: Indian cueist Pankaj Advani survived a tough final test against Keen Hoo Moh of Malaysia to pot his first Asian 6-Red Snooker Championship at Novotel Al Bustan hotel here on Sunday night.

Securing his first title of the season with a 7-5 (39-4, 6-51, 40-14, 0-37, 41-7, 44-8, 21-38, 45-24, 1-35, 45-36, 15-38, 53-24)margin, Advani said that he was just happy to get through as Moh is a ‘very dangerous player’.

Advani said he was desperate to land this title, especially since he hasn’t won an Asian snooker title.

“It’s important to keep winning. You don’t want to go 8-10 months without a title. There are times when I should have won a match and was unable to go over the line. Today also I had a feeling if this went to decider, I was unsure if I could do it.”

In the semis, Advani had a comfortable 6-1 win over Aditya Mehta but in the final he was a bit scratchy.

While preparing for this tournament, he had asked the Karnataka State Billiards Association in Bengaluru to place a match cloth in his practice venue for him to get acclimatised to the conditions in Abu Dhabi. India’s first world champion in 6-Red snooker also talked about the expectations back home.

Next up, Advani will play in the team’s event. He is yet to decide his partner but said he would be playing.—Agencies

Our Sports Correspondent from Karachi adds: After making an unceremonious exit in the quarter-finals stage of the preceding 6-Reds competition, Pakistan’s two outfits – 1 and 2 – made brisk starts by winning two group matches apiece in the Asian snooker team event at Abu Dhabi on Monday.

According to results made available here, Pakistan 1, comprising Mohammad Asif and Asjad Iqbal, first accounted for Iraq 3-2 (16-59, 78-14, 83-14, 38-59, 61-23) and then got the better of hosts UAE 2 by 3-1 (79-38, 32-64, 107-54, 75-1) to dominate Group ‘D’.

Pakistan’s second outfit that includes Mohammad Bilal and Babar Masih outplayed Saudi Arabia straight (77-32, 78-44, 68-33) in their Group ‘C’ opener and then blanked Bahrain in similar fashion (61-59, 56-15, 56-34).

The group matches conclude on Tuesday. The top two teams of the four groups will qualify for the quarter-finals.

The quarters and semis will be played on Wednesday while the final is fixed for the following day.

Results: Pakistan 1 bt Iraq 3-2 (16-59, 78-14, 83-14, 38-59, 61-23); Pakistan 2 bt Saudi Arabia 3-0 (77-32, 78-44, 68-33); Pakistan 2 bt Bahrain 3-0 (61-59, 56-15, 56-34); Pakistan 1 bt UAE 2 3-1 (79-38, 32-64, 107-54, 75-1).

Tuesday’s fixtures: Pakistan 1 v Malaysia; Iran 1 v Pakistan 2.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016

Opinion

Editorial

Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...
Rushed legislation
Updated 06 Nov, 2024

Rushed legislation

For all its stress on "supremacy of parliament", the ruling coalition has wasted no opportunity to reiterate where its allegiances truly lie.
Jail reform policy
06 Nov, 2024

Jail reform policy

THE state is making a fresh attempt to improve conditions in Pakistan’s penitentiaries by developing a national...
BISP overhaul
06 Nov, 2024

BISP overhaul

IT has emerged that the spouses of over 28,500 Sindh government employees have been illicitly benefiting from BISP....