Pankaj looks to bounce back in team event

Bengaluru, August 5: India suffered a huge blow when ace cueist Pankaj Advani crashed out of the IBSF World 6-Reds Snooker Championship at the Egyptian city of Hurghada.

Pankaj, who was India's main medal hope in the singles event lost to Pakistan's Babar Masih 2-4 in the pre-quarterfinal stage.

Pankaj started well with an opening break of 54 points. After four frames the scores were level at 2-2. But then, Masih gained upperhand and had break of 34 in the fifth frame. The Pakistani cueist continued his good game in the sixth to close the contest.

The Bengaluru boy will hope to bounce back in the team events.

The 32-year-old, who won the World 6-Red Snooker Championship in 2014 and 2015 but lost it in knock out rounds last year, said the team championship is something that he would definitely love to get his hands on.

"I am looking forward to giving my best. It's going to be very competitive and again it is a very short format. You just never know on that day how you click. If you click great, and if you don't, then take the flight and come back home," said Pankaj.

The IBSF World Championship championship concludes on August 10.