Pankaj, Aditya suffer losses in 6-Red World Snooker

Bangkok: India`s Pankaj Advani suffered a 2-5 loss to Andrew Higginson of England but still remained in contention for a berth in the knock-out stage in the SangSom 6-Red World Snooker Championship.

Unseeded Advani has collected two points from three matches, with two wins and a loss, the same as Higginson. Earlier in the day, Advani defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-4 in the six-player round-robuin league. Yesterday, the Indian had beaten Ben Nunan of Australia 5-4. Advani will take on sixth seed Shaun Murphy of England and 54-year old Steve Davis, also an Englishman and former world champion, in his remaining two league fixtures tomorrow. On another table in Group C, India`s number one snooker player Aditya Mehta also suffered his first defeat in the round-robin league. He lost to third seed Mark J Williams of Wales 4-5. With two points from three matches -- from two wins and a loss, Aditya, however, remained in contention for a knock-out berth. Yesterday, he won both his matches -- against Li Hang of China (5-4) and Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon of Thailand`s (5-4). Aditya will play Ken Doherty of Ireland and Peter Ebdon of England tomorrow. PTI