Three Indians book semis berth at World Professional billiards

Pankaj Advani, Rupesh Shah and Dhruv Sitwala kept Indian hopes alive after registering contrasting wins in the quarter-finals of the 2009 World Professional Billiard Championship in Leeds on Saturday.

After scoring an upset win over five-time winner Geet Sethi on Friday, Advani pipped David Causier of England 896-782 with brilliant breaks of 245, 68, 127, 60 and 196 to set up a clash with Sitwala in the semi-finals.

Sitwala also did not break any sweat against Peter Gilchrist of Singapore, defeating him 872-399 with breaks of 185, 90, 97 and 100.

In another quarter-final encounter, Shah scored a thrilling 545-394 win over Martin Goodwill of England with breaks of 64, 99, 103, 90 and 45.

Defending champion Mike Russell defeated India's B Bhaskar 1271-419 and will now face Shah in the semis.