Advani qualifies for Asian Championships

Asian Games gold medallist Pankaj Advani qualified for the Asian Billiards Championships to be held in Doha, Qatar, after topping the selection trials which concluded in Mumbai on Thursday.

Advani recorded emphatic victories in both his matches after he found himself in a must win situation following a loss to Ashok Shandaliya on Wednesday.

Railways' Rupesh Shah, also performed admirably and claimed the other berth for the Doha event.

Overall, 21-year-old Advani who won five out of the six matches in the round-robin league, was quite pleased with his performance.

"I am quite happy with the way I have played especially because when once considers the format because if we lose a couple of games, then its difficult to recover from that," Advani said.

Advani said he was hopeful of making the grade, after his loss to Shandaliya and realised the need to latch on the openings which he receives.

"Even after the defeat, I knew that there was a chance of coming through. I needed to capitalise on the opportunities and needed to win both the matches convincingly, which I did," asserted Advani.

Advani said he needed to be more methodical in approach and be alert all the time to perform well at the Asian Championships, to be held next month.