India's challenge in Asian snooker ends

Promising young cueist Manan Chandra's hopes of winning the coveted title in the fourth Asian under-21 Snooker championship were dashed, as he crashed out rather tamely to talented Chinese Junhui Ding in the semi-finals in Kolkata on Thursday night.

The Chinese sensation was in devastating form as he carved out a stunning 5-0 victory over the fancied Indian.

Chandra, who had played quite well till the semi-final stage, looked a pale shadow of himself and could not match the consistent display of his opponent much to the disappointment of the near-capacity crowd.

Ding humbled the top seed 71-16, 94-9, 82-9, 102-25, 77-8.

Ding, who created a flutter by recording a clearance break of 103 on the second day, had sizeable breaks in all the five frames. He had breaks of 71 (first frame), 84 (2nd), 65 (3rd), 42 (4th) and 46 (5th).

Earlier, in the morning, Chandra kept Indian hopes alive by cruising into the semi-finals as his compatriot Pankaj Advani was forced to bite the dust after a close quarter-final.

While Chandra did not have to exert much as he carved out a comfortable 5-1 victory over Habib Humood of Bahrain, Advani went down fighting to strong Thai contender Pramual Janthat 4-5 in an absorbing tussle.

Displaying superb touch and unwavering concentration on the green table, Chandra kept himself on course for the coveted title, winning 43-70, 71-9, 64-29, 70-19, 82-33, 58-9.

Junhui Ding had defeated countryman Pengfei Tian 8-82, 43-63, 96-7, 76-16, 79-37, 101-30, 106-9.

In another quarter-final, Kim Ho Moh also came from behind to beat Munkit Thean, also from Malaysia, 36-62, 76-30, 49-63, 60-27, 60-20, 66-40, 61-41.

Earlier reports
Day 1: Chandra, Advani make solid start
Day 2: Chandra, Advani in last 16
Day 3: Chandra, Advani maintain impressive run