Indian Open Day 3

Pankaj Advani won again today as he defeated Mark Allen
4-2. Image: World Snooker

The two Indian players, Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta, both continued their excellent run at the home event and both recorded wins today to progress to the last 16.

Advani put in an excellent performance to defeat world number nine Mark Allen, 4-2. Allen won the opening frame on the colours but seemed a little distracted and Advani pulled into the lead with breaks of 55 and 71. Allen won the next to close to 2-2 but Advani too the next after snookering Allen on the yellow and clearing the colours. And the home favourite secured the sixth too to advance and will face Stuart Bingham tomorrow after he defeated Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 4-2.

Mehta meanwhile overcame Hammad Miah 4-1. Miah won the opener with a run of 97 but Mehta didn’t look back from there, winning the next three with relative ease, before nicking the fifth on the final black.

He will play Mark Williams tomorrow after he produced an excellent performance to beat Mark Selby 4-1. Williams took the opening two frames with breaks of 53 and 72 although Selby looked set to take the next until he broke down on 64. But Williams cleared with a 69 to make it 3-0. Selby did make it 3-1 with a run of 92 but Williams secured the match with a 100 break in the fifth.

Neil Robertson’s good run continued as he made it through to the last 16 after beating Rod Lawler 4-2. Lawler made an excellent 108 break to win the opener but Robertson won the next three to go 3-1 up. Lawler pulled another back with a 60 break but Robertson sealed the game when he won the sixth. He’ll play Liang Wenbo after the Chinese beat Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-2.

Ding Junhui displayed some excellent break building to come back from 3-1 down to beat Mark Joyce 4-3. Ding won the opener but Walsall’s Joyce took the next three including runs of 85 and 88. But Ding hit back in style with runs of 85, 106 and 109 to complete the dramatic comeback. Ding will face John Higgins in a mouth-watering last 16 tie after the Scotsman whitewashed Li Yan 4-0.

Mike Dunn’s run in the competition continues after he whitewashed Thai teenager Rathchayothin Yotharuck, with a top break of 92. He will face Robbie Williams in the next round after the Welshman beat Andrew Higginson, including a break of 103.

Gary Wilson is another surprise name in the last 16 after he defeated Marco Fu 4-3. The Gateshead man looked comfortable at 3-1 up but Australian Goldfields Open champion Fu forced a decider with breaks of 81 and 137, the highest in the tournament so far. He faces Michael White tomorrow who also came through a decider to beat Zhang Anda.

Elsewhere, Stephen Maguire came from 3-2 down to beat Leicester’s Tom Ford 4-3 and will play Mark Davis who put an end to Michael Holt’s tournament, beating him 4-1. Anthony McGill is also through, beating Fergal O’Brien 4-1 and faces Joe Perry in the next round as he beat Ricky Walden 4-2.