Pankaj Advani becomes first Indian to qualify for the inaugural Indian Open

FILE PHOTO: Pankaj Advani

Pankaj Advani has ensured his qualification for the inaugural Indian Open snooker championship by beating British player Matthew Selt 4-0 in the Shanghai Masters snooker qualifiers.

Selt had a fine break of 53 to start off the match played at the Doncaster Dome in Sheffield, United Kingdom. But Pankaj responded with a fighting run of 62 to seal the first frame. He then went on to have breaks of 44, 54 and 65 in the next three frames to finish off the match in under two hours.

Pankaj Advani, at number 73 is India’s highest ranked snooker player, and has become the first Indian to qualify for the Indian Open which is scheduled in mid-October at New Delhi, reported NDTV.

India will now look for a qualification from their other hope Aditya Mehta who is ranked at 74 at the moment. He is slated to take on Xiao Guodong of China.