Keerath Bhandaal provided some cheer to the Indian camp as she qualified for the second round with a 6-5 win against local challenger Chen Chia Hua in the Asian 9-Ball Pool championship here Friday.
Keerath, who had lost her opening match 4-6 to Ku Cheng Chin (Taipei), led 5-1 against Hua who recovered to make it 5-all. The Indian girl held her nerve in the tense 11th frame to win.
Meanwhile, India's Mehul Saini lost to Yazeed Turki Al Ali (Qatar) 7-8 and bowed out of the tournament, having lost his first match also, against Liu Hao Wei (Taipei) 1-8.