Advani, Kothari in World Billiards semis

Indian ace Pankaj Advani and Sourav Kothari set the green baize on fire to ensure a semi-final clash between themselves after registering resounding wins in their last-16 and quarter-finals clashes respectively in the 150 up format of World Billiards Championship underway here.
Former champion Advani, who has already pocketed eight world billiards titles, first eased past another ex-champ David Causier 4-0 in the last-16 match to be one of the four Indians to enter the last-8.
Kothari and Punjab cueist Alok Kumar also got past their respective opponents without losing a single frame in the pre-quarterfinals.
Maharashtra ace Dhruv Sitwala though had to work hard for his 4-2 win against fellow country and state mate Nalin Patel.

The other Indians in the fray, Rupesh Shah, Siddharth Parikh, Devendra Joshi, Arun Agarwal and Jaiveer Dhingra, lost their respective matches to bow out.
The party though continued for India, as national cue sport poster boy, Advani lived up to his reputation as the Bangalore ace humbled Alok 4-0 in the last-8 encounter.
Kolkata's Kothari also continued his surge as he made short work of Ian Williamson 4-0 to set up a last-4 clash with Advani.