In his first match in the round-robin stages, Advani annihilated local representative Mansoor Mohamed Mubeen in four straight frames 101-64, 101-13, 100-15 and 100-11.
The Indian then proceeded to match-up against Sri Lanka's familiar face, Anil Rohana, who he defeated with as much panache and confidence in straight frames again 102-6, 102-27,101-21 and 101-6.
Playing against Rohana, scoring three breaks of 102, 62 and 50, Pankaj's score of 102 was recorded the highest break of the day.
Advani was cautious about proceeding further.
Advani now plays South Korea's Minhu Baek tomorrow.