Pankaj Advani advances to World Snooker knockouts

Doha: Seventeen-time world champion Pankaj Advani showed no signs of a billiards hangover as he marched through the round-robin stage of the snooker event with convincing wins at World Championships here.

Advani, on Tuesday, scored a 4-1 win over Qatar's Khamis Alobaidli to secure a spot in the elimination draw of 64, which commences in two days.

Though Advani has as one more match to go in the league stage, his wins so far have confirmed that he is advancing to the business end of the tournament.

In the opening match, he whitewashed his Finnish opponent Heikki Niva 4-0 with breaks of 107 and 58.

In the second league tie, Advani overcame Irishman Karl Fitzpatrick 4-1, firing in breaks of 108, 46, 45 and 40 in each frame to get closer to the knockouts.

Advani had defended his World Billiards title in the 150-up format here on November 12. It was his 17th world title.