National Billiards and Snooker C'ships : Pankaj survives; Amee, Ishika sail into second round

In the ladies' first-round encounters, Madhya Pradesh's Amee Kamani and Ishika Shah sailed into the second round.

Pankaj produced a late flourish against his Karnataka rival and went on to carve out a tense 27-28, 39-00, 42-28, 45-00, 00-45, 08-35, and 66-00 win to advance to the second round. (File Photo)

Multiple world champion Pankaj Advani survived a scare against qualifier Santosh R. of Karnataka before snatching a tight 4-3 win in a men's 6-Red first-round match of the 88th National Billiards & Snooker Championship here on Monday.

In the ladies' first-round encounters, Madhya Pradesh's Amee Kamani and Ishika Shah sailed into the second round.

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Amee got the better of Tamil Nadu's Neena Praveen, winning 4-1 (49-10, 34-01, 22-45, 14-37, 37-01). Ishika caused a flutter by defeating Karnataka's seasoned Chitra Maghimairaj in five frames 4-1 (13-34, 57-12, 56-12, 25-11).

Pankaj produced a late flourish against his Karnataka rival and went on to carve out a tense 27-28, 39-00, 42-28, 45-00, 00-45, 08-35, and 66-00 win to advance to the second round.

"The 6-Red snooker format is unpredictable just like T20 cricket. Any move can change the whole turn of the game. I am happy to win a closely fought match against Santosh with whom I practice occasionally in Bengaluru.

"It was a neck-to-neck contest and I am aiming to improve my performance for the upcoming matches in the Nationals," said Pankaj.