India’s Pankaj Advani scraped through 4-3 against Nisar Ahmed Safuddin of Qatar while Aditya scored an easy win over Lebanese Mazen Berjaoui 4-0 to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s snooker singles at the Asian Games here Thursday.Advani, who won India’s only gold here in billiards singles, won the contest in the decisive frame. Safuddin proved a hard nut for the Indian, who came back from two frames down to win 15-70, 41-45, 78-23, 73-26, 70-13, 57-27, 49-6.
Advani now faces a tough opponent in Ding Junhui of China in the last 16.
The 25-year-old will have to be at the top of his game against Ding Junhui, the second teenager after legend John Higgins to win three ranking titles.
Aditya, however, was clinical in his 98-20, 72-39, 58-18, 65-6 victory against Mazen. He will now play the winner of Thailand’s Pu-Ob-Orm Ratchapol and Yu-Lun Wu of Chinese Taipei in the pre-quarters.
India so far have won three cue sports medals at the Games.
