Snooker: India

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

2018

Asian Team Snooker

India enter Asian snooker final

September 21, 2018: The Times of India

Malkeet Singh played the match of his life under pressure to clinch the deciding frame against Pakistan 2 and a berth for the Indian team in the final of the Asian Team Snooker Championship here. The semifinal against Pakistan 2 was as a roller-coaster ride from the get go. Muhammad Majid Ali got the better of Pankaj Advani in the opener.

World Cup: India beat Pakistan

Advani-led India beat Pakistan to win Snooker Team World Cup, March 3, 2018: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

The Indians made a shaky start in the final with Masih scoring a convincing 73-24 win over Chandra in the opener.

Asif then went on to steal the second frame from Advani and won it on the black ball 61-56.

The third frame was a doubles match in which both Indians played out of their skin to stay alive in the final, winning it 72-47.

The Indian combine of Pankaj Advani and Manan Chandra staged a remarkable recovery to beat Pakistan in the final of the inaugural IBSF Snooker Team World Cup.

After being 0-2 down in the best-of-five final played last night, India found themselves in a deeper hole at 0-30 down in the third frame.

Thanks to a well-crafted 39 break from Chandra and a classy clearance of the final colours by Advani, the Indian hopes were kept alive. In the fourth frame, even though Advani found himself in a spot of bother when trailing 1-20 against Babar Masih, he took charge of the proceedings and displayed his mastery once again by clearing the table with a 69 break. This made India draw parity with Pakistan and it all boiled down to the final frame to determine the first winners of the inaugural event.

Chandra and Muhammad Asif found themselves in a seesaw frame but it was the Indian who changed gears and did most of the scoring with every given opportunity. Eventually, Chandra only needed the green to be in the safe zone leaving his opponent requiring snookers. But with a long pot on the brown, the humbled Pakistani conceded the frame and match.

The Indians made a shaky start in the final with Masih scoring a convincing 73-24 win over Chandra in the opener. Asif then went on to steal the second frame from Advani and won it on the black ball 61-56.

With the Indian team 0-2 down, it had to dig deep and win every frame thereafter.

The third frame was a doubles match in which both Indians played out of their skin to stay alive in the final, winning it 72-47.

"After it became 2-0 in the favour of Pakistan, we knew our chances of winning were slim and had our task cut out. After winning the doubles frame we saw a glimmer of hope and knew now it was up to us to dig deep and individually win both our singles matches to pull off a Houdini," said Advani. "Manan played exceptional snooker especially in the crucial deciders of the semifinal and final, when it mattered most. I'm really happy for him to win his first world title," added Advani, who increased his tally of world titles to a staggering 19.

2019

All India Open: Mehta stuns Advani to win crown

Mehta stuns Advani to win snooker crown, March 20, 2019: The Times of India

Indian Oil cueist Aditya Mehta produced a tremendous performance to stun arch-rival Pankaj Advani 7-3 in the final of the Rs 12.9 lakh CCI All India Open Snooker Championship. It was a great comeback for the lanky Mumbai-based Mehta, who has been struggling due to some health issues and has been playing with an unorthodox stance and cueing action.

He did well to cruise to a 62-60, 0-91, 38-63, 37-70, 74-39, 79-7, 62-59, 84-13, 72-13, 65-19 victory. Mehta received the `Champions’ trophy and a handsome cheque of Rs 2 lakh, while Advani got the runners-up prize of Rs 1.30 lakh.

Advani also pocketed Rs 25,000 for the highest break of 131 he had craftily constructed in the round of 64 match.

The top-ranked Indian Advani showed promise at the start and on his second visit made a 53-run to gain the advantage, but a couple of visits later he fouled on the pink and Mehta did not waste time as he neatly rolled in a 56 break to take the opening honours.

Advani of ONGC came good in the second and, after making a 29-run at the start, he followed it up with a break of 62 to pocket the frame and tie the scores.