World Snooker: Vatnani cracks 133 on way to knockout

Hyderabadi Lucky Vatnani posted the tournament's highest break of 133 to qualify for the men's Round of 64 in great style in the IBSF World Snooker championship here Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Vatnani, a dangerous floater who earlier in the tournament stretched Pankaj Advani, was at his fluent best while routing Chi Wai Au of Hong Kong 4-0 for his fourth win.

Advani, fresh from a day's break, was in a cruise mode as he overwhelmed Swiss Mike Toth 4-0 aided by breaks of 53 and 62.

Advani, the 29-year-old holder of 12 World titles, though was far from pleased as he seemed to be struggling to come to terms with playing conditions if one were to go by his assertion that one should not expect any "fireworks" from him.

"Today's match was just a formality and it is nice to finish as a group topper but the main tournament (knockouts) begins tomorrow. I am going to be a different player. I will probably play slower than normal and will not take many chances. So don't expect any fireworks from me," said Advani, who will be one of the top seeds in the Round of 64 draw that would be released tonight.

Amidst the frenetic scramble for knockout berths, 13-year-old Japanese schoolboy Keishin Kamahashi became the youngest player in the tournament to win a match as he outclassed Finland's Jani Kananen 4-0 to finish his league engagements on a high. The result was inconsequential as neither player qualified for the knockouts.

Meanwhile, Laxman Rawat of India posted his fourth win in Group B to qualify for the knockout while Asian champion Thor Chuanleong of Malaysia topped the group with five wins in six outings, ahead of Mohsen Bukshaisha (Qatar) and Antonis Poullos (Cyprus).

In Group C, Hamza Akbar of Pakistan beat Vinicius da Silva Fucuta of Brazil with a break of 127 showcasing his form as he qualified along with unbeaten Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn of Thailand, Michael Collumb (Scotland) and Varun Madan.

In the women's section, Neena Praveen with three wins, qualified for the knockout from Group A after defeating fellow-Indian Revanna Umadevi 3-0. Three players finished with three wins but Sanghvi with 0 frame difference qualified along with Ip Wan In Jaique (HK) who went down to Wendy Jans 0-3.

Amee Kamani topped Group B on the basis of more frames won while Arantxa Sanchis with four victories joined her in the knockout along with Thailand's Siraphat Chitchomnart and Russian Anastasia Nechaeva of Russia.

Neeta Sanghvi qualified from Group C despite losing 0-3 to Vidya Pillai who finished second in the group behind double World Champion Ng On Yee of Hong Kong, who won all her six matches. Australia's Sue Martin finished third in the group to also qualify.

Bengaluru collegian Varsha Sanjeev also made it to the knockout from Group F along with Daria Sirotina (Russia), Tatjana Vasiljeva (Latvia) and So Man Yan (Hong Kong) after she beat Amy Claire King of South Africa 3-1 for her fourth win.

In Group E, Australia's Jessica Woods topped with an all-win record, followed by Sripaporn Nuanthakhamjan (Thailand) while a three-way tie ensued for the remaining two qualifying spots. Eventually, based on frame difference, Denise Santos of the Philippines along with India's Judy Walia made it to the knockout.

The results (league, Indians unless mentioned):

MEN - Group A: Shivam Arora bt Cader Mohamed (MAU) 4-1; Robert Murphy (IRE) bt Alan Whitfield (CAN) 4-1; Tetsuya Kuwata (JPN) bt Nick Jennings (ENG) 4-2.

Group B: Laxman Rawat bt Jurian Heusdens (BEL) 4-1; Gary Thomson (SCO) bt Mohamed Khairy (EGY) 4-1.

Group C: Hamza Akbar (PAK) bt Vinicius Da Silva Fucuta (BRA) 4-0; Michael Collumb (SCO) bt Hatem Yaseen (EGY) 4-1; Varun Madan bt Ivan Kakovsky (RUS) 4-1.

Group D: Fabio Anderson Luersen (BRA) bt Farhad Sayfoo (MAU) 4-0; Sanderson Lam (ENG) bt Ali Alobaidli (QAT) 4-2.

Group E: Wael Talaat (EGY) bt Asutosh Padhy 4-1; Karam Fatima (SYR) bt Yan Bingtao (CHN) 4-3; Rahul Ajay Sachdev bt Jim Johansson (SWE) 4-1.

Group F: Shahbaaz Adil Khan bt Ang Boon Chin (SIN) 4-2; Matthew Bolton (AUS) bt Marwan Alfalsi (UAE) 4-0; Jurgen van Roy (BEL) bt Mikhail Terekhov (RUS) 4-2.

Group G: Jamie Clarke (WAL) bt Paul Bason (NZ) 4-0; Alvin Barbero (PHL) bt Andrej Maksimov (LIT) 4-0; Chau Hon Man (HK) bt Manan Chandra 4-2.

Group H: Pankaj Advani bt Mike Toth (SUI) 4-0; Keen Hoo Moh (MAS) bt Thadeu Giannattasio Nobres (BRA) 4-0; Lucky Vatnani bt Chi Wai Au (HK) 4-2.

Group J: Keishin Kamihashi (JPN) bt Jani Kananen (FIN) 4-0; Michael Judge (IRE) bt Rupesh Shah 4-2; Mohd Reza Hassan (MAS) bt Ajeya Prabhakar (US) 4-0.

WOMEN - Group A: Neena Praveen bt Revanna Umadevi 3-0; Wendy Jans (BEL) bt Ip Wan In Jaique (HK) 3-0; Kathy Parashis (AUS) bt Claudia Zardo Cordeiro (BRA) 3-0.

Group B: Amee Kamani bt Anastasia Nechaeva (RUS) 3-1; Arantxa Sanchis bt Akram Mohammadi Amini (IRN) 3-0; Kerry De Pradines (AUS) bt Alxandra Teramoto Miyuki (BRA) 3-0.

Group C: Vidya Pillai bt Neeta Sanghvi 3-0; Ng On Yee (HK) bt Nicola Ilse Rossouw (RSA) 3-1.

Group E: Judy Walia bt Suniti Damani 3-0; Jessica Woods (AUS) bt Irina Gorbataya (RUS) 3-1; Denise Santos (PHI) bt Madeleine Jeanne Young (RSA) 3-1.

Group F: Varsha Sanjeev bt Amy Claire King (RSA) 3-1; Indira Thamme Gowda bt Kimberlee Brewer (NZ) 3-0.

MASTERS - Group G: Alok Kumar bt Georgios Efstathiou (CYP) 3-0.

Group K: Nadeem Azeez Sait bt Tom Zimmermann (SUI) 3-0.

Group J: BV Srinivasa Murthy Abt Choon Kiat Tey (SIN) 3-1.

Group L: Venkatesham K. bt Igshaan Stanfield (RSA) 3-0.

Group M: Rafath Habib Abt Paul Flemming (CAN) 3-0.

Group H: S Prem Prakash bt Salim Ali Alsuwaidi (UAE) 3-0.