Daugavpils (Latvia), Dec 6 (IANS): Manan Chandra crafted a brilliant 115 on way to defeating Australia’s Hassan Kerde 5-0 while fellow-Indian Shahbaaz Adil Khan kept his wits about him to defeat two Pakistanis en route to the prequarter-finals of the IBSF World snooker championships here Friday.
In the women’s section, Chitra Magimairajan edged out compatriot Neena Praveen 4-2 while 17-year-old Varsha Sanjeev waltzed past Kathy Howden (Australia) 4-1 to qualify for the pre-quarter-finals in the women’s section.
Magimairajan takes on National champion Vidya Pillai while Saneev takes on Arantxa Sanchis. Both Pillai and Sanchis had received a bye into the round of 16.
Chandra showcased his potting skills while easing past Kerde in 100 minutes to set up a clash with England’s veteran Jeff Cundy. In the earlier round, the 32-year old Chandra took out UAE’s Mohd Al Joaker 4-3 in a tight match.
On his part, Khan defeated Shahid Aftab 5-2 in the round of 32 after having scalped Muhammed Asif 4-3 in the earlier match that saw the Indian squander 2-0 and 3-2 leads before clinching the seventh. Khan meets Zhao Xintong of China in the pre-quarter-finals.
In the Masters category, India’s Nigel Lazar went down fighting 3-4 against Russian Audrey Vill in the round of 64.
The results (Indians’ matches):
Men (Round of 32): Manan Chandra bt Hassan Kerde (Aus) 5-0 (81-10, 53-34, 127 (115)-1, 62-24, 68-67); Shabaaz Adil Khan bt Shahid Aftab (Pak) 5-2 (54-34, 64-25, 60-58(51), 61(60)-36, 34-61, 42-75, 73-59).
Round of 64: Chandra bt Mohd Al Joaker (UAE) 4-3 (70-48, 74-22, 15-65, 64-35, 25-74, 29-70, 57-28); Khan bt Muhammad Asif (Pak) 4-3 (76-34, 65-15, 34-80(65), 66-16, 23-75, 23-67, 71-7); Aftab bt Brijesh Damani 4-1 (66-22, 68(55)-16, 39-51, 56-34, 69(69)-55).
Women (Round of 32): Varsha Sanjeev bt Kathy Howden (Aus) 4-1 (80(35)-22, 7-42, 71-9, 59-29, 55-20). Chitra Magimairajan bt Neena Praveen 4-2 (31-54, 67(36)-20, 71(31)-0, 35-47, 73-44, 61-31).
Masters (Round of 64): Audrey Vill (Russia) bt Nigel Lazar 4-3 (13-65, 49-41, 42-47, 61-41, 51-62, 63-48, 71(51)-10).