National champion Manan Chandra made his maiden entry into the men's quarter-finals of the IBSF World Snooker championship in Amman, while his more fancied compatriot Pankaj Advani [ Images ] bowed out of the elite competition.

Chandra got the better of Andrew Pagett of Wales 5-3 to move into the last eight stage. The Indian got a superb start in the first frame and went on to win the tie 75-0, 46-23, 4-63, 29-74, 91-0, 67-12, 34-76, 79-11.

He will next meet Craig Steadman of England [ Images ] for a place in the last four.

Advani, a former champion, lost 3-5 to Daniel Ward of England in the pre-quarters.

In the women's section, Anuja Thakur created a flutter by advancing to the semi-finals in her maiden appearance in the premier tournament.

Thakur defeated Kathy Parashis of Australia [ Images ] 4-1, scoring 37-68, 57-33, 74-30, 58-7, 65-42.

She will meet the winner of the match between Hanna Mergies of Poland and Wan-IP IN of the Czech Republic in the semis.

In the Masters section, Devender Joshi reached the semi-finals by thrashing Danny Moermans of Belgium 4-1 while compatriot Geet Sethi was crushed by Pakistan's Mohammad Yusuf 0-4 in another match.