Defending champion Devendra Joshi and Geet Sethi of India stormed into the quarter-finals after registering their fourth victories from as many matches in Group 'A', in the Idea Cellular-ONGC-BPCL-sponsored fourth Asian Billiards Championship, at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana, in Pune on Wednesday.
Joshi overcame a shaky start to prevail over Myanmar's Khin Mg Oo 3-1, while Sethi, who struck up an unfinished break of 101 in the fourth game, beat S. Thawat of Thailand by the same margin.
Pankaj Advani of India and Kyaw Oo of Myanmar from Group B, and Aung Sang Oo (Myanmar) and C. Praput (Thailand) from Group C also sealed places in the quarter-finals.
In the match of the day, former IBSF World champion C. Praput of Thailand rallied to a pulsating 3-2 win over a gallant Aung San Oo of Myanmar in Group C.
In a contest between quality players, the Thai romped to a 2-0 lead in quick time which included an unfinished break of 100 in the second game.
While Praput made his intentions clear, Aung San, who has improved with every tie, retaliated by winning the next two games to force the decider. A significant break of 68 gave Aung San a comfortable lead and set him on course for what would have been a famous win.
But earlier he missed a difficult cannon that allowed Praput to construct a crucial break of 35 and in the latter part of the tie muffed a simple red pot that allowed the Thai to uncork an unfinished break of 40 to seal a hard-fought win.
Results (breaks in bracket):
Group A: Geet Sethi (India) bt S. Thawat (Thailand) 3-1 [4-101, 100(80)-68, 100(74)-0, 101(101 unf)-0]; Devendra Joshi (India) bt Khin Mg Oo (Myanmar) 3-1 [41-102, 101(91 unf)-37, 100(57 unf)-48, 101-58]; Wan-Sun Lee (Korea) bt K.H. Sirisoma (SL) 3-0 [101-63, 102-86, 101-55].
Group B: Kyaw Oo (Myanmar) bt W.A.J. Weerasinghe (SL) 3-0 [101-28, 101(65)-40, 100(86)-7]; Pankaj Advani (India) bt B. Bhaskar (India) 3-1 [101(87)-48, 32-101(61), 101(62)-2, 100(89)-50]; Rishabh Thakkar (India) bt Ang Boon C. Tommy (Singapore) 3-0 [100(68)-15, 101-60, 100-21].
Group C: Imran Shahzad (Pak) bt Seung Chil Park (Korea) 3-2 [83-102, 101(50)-44, 100-63, 85-100, 101-49]; C. Praput (Thailand) bt Aung San Oo (Myanmar) 3-2 [100-20, 100(100 unf)-0, 78(54)-100(60), 40-100, 102-82(68)]; Ashok Shandilya (India) bt Lim Jia Sheng (Singapore) 3-0 [101(57)-13, 100(58)-41, 100(58)-9]; Aung San Oo bt Seung Chil Park 3-0 [101-30, 102(53)-9, 101(92 unf)-15]; Sourav Kothari (India) bt Imran Shahzad 3-0 [101(75 unf)-11, 100(59)-83, 100-64].
