Pankaj Advani in last 16

Top seed and 18-year-old national champion Pankaj Advani from Bangalore kept Indian hopes alive in the IBSF World Under-21 snooker championship by advancing to the pre-quarter-finals with a 5-2 result against Michael Lupton of Australia in Taupo, New Zealand, on Friday.

However, India suffered a setback when Mumbai's 17-year-old Aditya Mehta went down fighting to James Delahunty of Australia 2-5.

Meanwhile, seven of the eight seeded players won their respective matches. The lone ranked player to lose was No.3 Jonathan Vaughan, who suffered a shock 4-5 loss to fellow-Welshman Jamie Jones, who clinched the ninth frame on the pink.

Advani, who celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday, was fluent in knocking out Lupton. He was aided by a break of 54 in the second frame.

Leading 3-0, Advani lost the next two frames before tightening his grip on the match for a 68-10, 73-24, 72-40, 55-66, 24-66, 61-10, 54-40, victory.

Advani, who had come through the league dropping just two frames, next meets unseeded Chinese Tian Pengfei, who beat Issara Kachawong (Thailand) 5–2.

Pengfei displayed good form while notching up breaks of 75, 83, 80 and 120 in his victory.

Mehta put up a brave fight against Delahunty after losing the opening three frames and recorded the highest break of the match, 79, in the sixth frame, but it was all too little too late as the Aussie won 73-23, 78-64, 72-32, 27-70, 73-0, 25-87, 59-48.

Meanwhile, defending champion and Asian Games gold medallist, Ding Junhui of China, seeded No. 5, missed a possible 147 when he flunked on the yellow with all the colours on their spots, en route to a fluent 5-0 win against Nisar Saif of Qatar. Ding's break ended on 120. He also had runs of 56 and 73.

China, in fact, enjoyed a successful day as their other two players, Li Yinxi and Liu Song, also made it to the Round of 16.

Yinxi beat Ben Woolaston of England 5-2 while sixth seeded Song blanked Kevin Van Hove of Belgium 5-0. The No.2 seed Mark Allen from Northern Ireland was in full flow as he beat countryman Alastair Wilson 5-1, puting in breaks of 122 and 82.

It earned him a last 16 match against Pramual Janthat of Thailand, who beat Albert Kenny of the Republic of Ireland 5-3.

Kobkit Palajin of Thailand, seeded No. 7, was taken to the wire by Lennon Starkey of the Netherlands for his 5-4 result and now meets Yinxi in the next round.

The results (Round of 32 - number in parenthesis denotes seed):

Top-half: (1) Pankaj Advani (India) bt Michael Lupton (Australia) 5–2 (68-10, 73-24, 72-40, 55-66, 24-66, 61-10, 54-40. Breaks: Advani 54 (2nd frame); Tian Pengfei (China ) bt Issara Kachawong (Thailand) 5–2; Neil Robertson (Australia) bt Habib Habibi (Bahrain) 5–3; (8) Alex Davies (England) bt Shannon Dixon (Australia) 5–4; (5) Ding Junhui (China) bt Nisar Saif (Qatar) 5-0; Adam Davies (England) bt Jim Martin (Northern Ireland ) 5-2; James Delahunty (Australia) bt Aditya Mehta (India) 5-2 (73-23, 78-64, 72-32, 27-70, 73-0, 25-87, 59-48). Breaks: Mehta 79 (6th frame); (4) Brendan O'Donoghue (Ireland) by Tyson Crinis (Australia) 5-2.

Bottom-half: Jamie Jones (Wales) bt (3) Jonathan Vaughan (Wales) 5-4; David Morris (Ireland) bt. Kim Van Der Kelen (Belgium) 5-1; Jamie O'Neill (England) bt. Anthony Krysa (Wales) 5-1; (6) Liu Song (China) bt. Kevin Van Hove (Belgium) 5-0; Pramual Janthat (Thailand) bt Albert Kenny (Ireland) 5-3; (7) Kobkit Palajin (Thailand) bt Lennon Starkey (Holland) 5-4; Li Yinxi (China) bt Ben Woollaston (England) 5-2; (2) Mark Allen (Northern Ireland) bt Alistair Wilson (Northern Ireland) 5-0.

UNI