Pankaj Advani defeated Iraq's Alijali Ali 4-1 to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Asian Snooker Championship here on Wednesday.
Starting in fine form in his match, Advani pocketed the first three frames, 78-54, 107-2, and 74-9 with breaks of 73 and 85 in the first two frames. In the fourth frame, Pankaj put up a strong fight only to lose the frame 29-65, according to a release.
Playing a best of 7 frames, India's Golden Boy, won the fifth frame, 57-44 to seal the match in his favour.
"It is good to start on a winning note in the knockout stages as it acts as a confidence booster, a necessity in tournaments of this level," Advani commented on his day at work.
Moving into the round of 16, Pankaj now faces fellow Indian and 2015 National Sub-Junior Snooker Winner, 19-year-old Ishpreet Singh Chadha.
"I look forward to facing promising talent such as Ishpreet who has been making quite an impression on the national snooker circuit. I am sure this will be a challenging yet exciting encounter," the 30-year-old said.
--IANS
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