Advani, Aditya crash out of Bluebell Wood Open

New Delhi: India`s leading cueists, Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta, bowed out of the third European Players Tour Championship (PTC) of the season -- the Bluebell Wood Open -- after suffering defeats in their respective round matches at the Doncaster Dome in Sheffield.

Cali World Games gold medallist Aditya did show some glimpses of his famed potting prowess but lacked consistency as he lost 0-4 against four-time world champion John Higgins of Scotland in the second round of the championship. Advani went down to two-time world champion Mark Williams 0-4 in the pre-quarterfinals to end his dream run in the tournament. The Welshman entered the best-of-seven frame last-16 match with all guns blazing. He raced to a 1-0 lead with the help of a 68 break. The third frame was where Advani had an outside chance to pull back a frame but a kick on the cueball followed by an in-off on the final green left Williams an open table to clear, which he did without much fuss. Advani, the eight-time world champion, had notched up a series of victories en-route his round of 16 appearance including the prized scalp of the former world and UK champion Peter Ebdon. The other Indian in the fray, Aditya started off well in the first frame, constructing a break of 36 but the veteran master of the game, Higgins, came up with breaks of 36 and 28 to surge ahead. The second frame saw Higgins reign supreme on the green baize as he did not give his opponent any chance to make a comeback with a classy break of 70, winning it comfortably 75-12. Aditya regrouped his resources and rose to the occasion with some fine potting display in the third frame but Higgins held his nerves and carved out a narrow 68-64 verdict. There was no let up from Higgins in the fourth frame as the Scotsman gave no room to Aditya to settle down and fired in a break of 64 to blank the Indian 4-0. The IOC had proposed three joint secretaries, six Executive Committee members, one representative elected out of Athletes Commission and IOC members in India besides president, secretary general and treasurer as Executive Council members who have voting rights. In the IOA elections held on December 5, just a day after the IOC banned India, 38 members were elected in the Executive Council with as many as 20 Executive Committee members, six joint secretaries, eight vice presidents and one senior vice-president, besides the president, secretary general and treasurer. The IOC had, however, declared the elections null and void. PTI