World Snooker: Varsha Sanjeev makes knockout stage

Teenager Varsha Sanjeev became the first and only Indian thus far to qualify for the knockout stage of the IBSF World snooker championship after she beat Ukraine's Maria Buckaraska 3-0 in her concluding Group F match here.

The 17-year-old Varsha Monday qualified with a 5-4 record, her only loss coming against former World champion Ng On Yee of Hong Kong who topped the six-player group unbeaten.

Also in the hunt for a knock-out berth is national champion Vidya Pillay who has won all her five matches in her group and need one more win to progress.

Likewise, Manan Chandra, with four wins in as many outings, is also on course to qualify from the seven-man Group H after he defeated Tomaz Skalski (Belgium) 4-2.

Meanwhile, Shah Baaz Adil Khan lost to Brenden O'Donoghue (Ireland) 2-4 in his concluding league fixture that ruled him out of contention as also Brijesh Damani who too slid to his third defeat, going down 2-4 to Germany's Roman Dietzel.

Chitra Magimairaj and Neena Praveen recorded their second win in four outings in their respective groups to keep their knock-out hopes alive. Chitra beat Yu Ching (Hong Kong) 3-1 and Neena overcame Russian Irina Gorbataya3-1.