Indian stalwarts Alok Kumar and Pankaj Advani had mixed fortunes on the second day of the 21st Asian Snooker Championships, both suffering a defeat and victory, in Bangkok, on Monday.
Manan Chandra, the other Indian in fray, kept his slate clean, winning his only match of the day.
Defending champion Alok Kumar started the day on a positive note with a 4-2 (34-62, 124-0, 80-28, 40-68 90-22, 74-25) win over Sri Lanka's S H M Aslam in a Group A match.
But lady luck deserted him soon after as he slumped to a 2-4 defeat against Thai player Nittiwat Kanjanasri. He lost 45-68, 42-96, 64-33, 69-49, 8-75.
Advani, on the other hand, had a poor start, losing his opening match of the day to Pramual Janthad 3-4, before bouncing back to clinch his next tie against Japan's Tetsuya Kuawata 4-2 in Pool B. The former World champion won 16-61, 72-24, 70-8, 72-9, 9-55, 71-47.
The second seeded Indian found the going tough against the local favourite Janthad, last year's Asian under-21 champion, in the best-of-seven frames Group B match.
Advani lost the first two frames 15-76, 44-57 but came back with a morale-boosting century score in the third frame to snatch the lead with scores of 107-31, 80-53, 76-25 (3-2).
However, the 19-year-old Janthad, who was able to register a break of 53 in the fourth frame, struck again to dominate his opponent 68-1 in the penultimate frame and sealed the matter with a 49-22 scoreline in the next on the second day of the competition at the Alexander Hotel.
More from rediff