Pankaj Advani in pre-quarters

CHENNAI: Pankaj Advani advanced to the pre-quarterfinals while former Asian Games and world Billards champion Ashok Shandilya also started his campaign on a solid note in the Rs.3.75 lakh Alliance Group-ASCA All India Invitational Snooker Tournament on Wednesday.
Former National Champion Shandilya chalked up a neat 3-0 win over local lad Karthik in his preliminary league, while Advani scored yet another straight forward win without dropping a frame.He beat Nadeem Ahmed 3-0 winning two of his three matches in four-player Group-A.
Shandilya, who was in his elements but went defensive at times, said after his victory, "I havent't even touched the cue for the past two weeks as I was busy with official work. I guess, with a little more time at the table, I should be able to get back into form, but I doubt I would have survived against more experienced players".
Rupesh Shah continued his fine form beating Harpreet Singh 3-0, while India No.4 Sourav Kothari was upset by local player R Girish 0-3 in a morning match.
Kothari, who was suffering from high fever since Tuesday, had his way in the third frame which was decided on a pink but it was too late.
Results:
Group A: Pankaj Advani bt Nadeem Ahmed 3-0; MC Manoj bt Varun Kumar 3-1.
Group B: Prem Prakash bt Antim Singhi 3-2; Prem Prakash bt Pushparaj 3-0.
Group C: Kamal Chawla bt Sunil Mathews 3-0; R Girish bt Sourav Kothari 3-0; Kamal Chawla bt R Girish 3-1.
Group E: Rupesh Shah bt Harpreet Singh 3-1. Group G: Karthik bt Shravan Mohta 3-2; Ashok Shandilya bt Karthik 3-0.
Group H: Devendra Joshi bt Pranit 3-1.