By Anand Philar
Hyderabad, Nov 15 (IANS) Title favourites Pankaj Advani and Geet Sethi of India led a field of home players past the first hurdle in the league stage of the 35th ONGC-IBSF World snooker championship at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, here Sunday.

Advani, the 24-year-old National champion from Bangalore, got past Australia’s Daniel Thorp 4-0 with a high break of 71 clearance in the second frame in the men’s section, while Sethi, the eight times World billiards champion, easily beat Mostafa Aly of Egypt 3-0.

In the ladies section, India No.2 Vidya Pillay took nearly four hours to overcome Hong Kong’s So Man Yan 3-1 in her group D match that was stopped as it spilled into the afternoon session but subsequently completed on another table, and Chitra Magaimagarajan just about kept her nerves to defeat Jaique Ip of Hong Kong 3-1.

Also making a winning start were Anuja Chandra who beat Shirley Smith of Australia 3-2 in group D while Neena Praveen received a walk-over as her scheduled opponent Nada Abdullah from Syria did not show up for the match.

However, India No.1 Meenal Thakur suffered a 3-1 loss against Hong Kong’s Yu Ching Ching in group C and Sunita Damani fell to a 3-0 defeat against Thailand’s Santhinee Jaisuekul.

Advani, the 2003 champion, took a while to settle down and took the first frame on the pink before racing away with the second frame on breaks of 31 and 71 clearance, and going on to wrap up the match.

“I was feeling a bit cold in the first frame due to the air-conditioning, and the 71 break got me going. I will have to play much better as the tournament progresses, but it is always nice to start with a victory,” said Avani who described the playing conditions and the arena as one of the best he has seen.

Earlier, a visibly tense Chitra Magaimagarajan dropped the first frame, but recovered to win the next three against Jaique who resorted to defensive tactics with plenty of safety play to throw the Indian out of gear.

“I too became rather tentative and honestly, I have never played so much of safety as I did today. But after the initial struggle, I began to strike well and adjusted to the table conditions, especially the side cushions that were on the slower side,” said the 34-year old Bangalorean who had warmed up for the tournament by reaching the final of the Australian Open in September and posting a break of 90, the highest by an Indian woman player en route.

The results:

Men: Group A - Pankaj Advani (India) bt Daniel Thorp (Australia) 4-0.

Masters: Group A - SA Saleem (India) bt Prasanna Maddumage (Sri Lanka) 3-1; Dene O’Kane (New Zealand) bt BVS Murthy (India) 3-0.

Group B - Geet Sethi (India) bt Mostafa Aly (Egypt) 3-0; Simon Zammit (Malta) bt Ayyoub Alsharrah (Kuwait) 3-0.

Group C - Paul Thomerson (Australia) bt Syed Habib (India) 3-0; Darren Morgan (Wales) bt Ali Jaafar (France) 3-0.

Group D: Andrey Vill (Russia) bt Arvind Savur (India) 3-1.

Ladies: Group A - Santhinee Jaisuekul (Thai) bt Suniti Damani (India) 3-0; Chitra Magimairaj (India) bt Jaique Ip (Hongkong) 3-1.

Group B - Kathy Howden (Australia) bt Neeta Sanghvi (India) 3-0; Nicha Pathom Eakmongkhon (Thailand) bt Claudia Weber (Switzerland) 3-0; Vidya Pillai (India) bt So Man Yan (Hong Kong) 3-1.

Group C - Margaret Gorski (Australia) bt Jeanne Young (South Africa) 3-0; Yu Ching Ching (Hong Kong) bt Meenal thakur (India) 3-1; Neena Praveen w/o Nada Abdullah (Syria).

Group D - Ramona Belmonte (New Zealand) bt Delphine Morel (France) 3-0; Bi-Zhuqing

(China) bt Ngon Yee (Hongkong) 3-0; Anuja Chandra (India) bt Shirley Smith (Australia) 3-2.