Pankaj Advani, Sourav Kothari Dominate in CCI Snooker Classic 2026 Top Indian cueists register fluent wins in Round of 32; Hassan Badami impresses Smooth Start for Top Seeds

 

Pankaj Advani, Sourav Kothari Dominate in CCI Snooker Classic 2026

Top Indian cueists register fluent wins in Round of 32; Hassan Badami impresses

Smooth Start for Top Seeds

 

Mumbai : Defending champion Pankaj Advani and India No. 6 Sourav Kothari enjoyed comfortable outings on the opening day of the Main Draw (Round of 32) in the Rs 13.5 lakh CCI Snooker Classic 2026, being played at the Wilson Jones Billiards Hall, Cricket Club of India. Both players delivered commanding performances to progress further in the tournament.

 

Pankaj Advani Cruises with 4-0 Win

India’s most decorated cueist, Pankaj Advani, a 27-time world champion, registered a 4-0 (58-55, 73-7, 92(65)-33, 64-52) victory over Rovin D’Souza. Advani produced a notable break of 65 in the third frame and maintained control throughout the match.

 

Sourav Kothari Blanks Suraj Rathi

Sourav Kothari displayed excellent form, compiling breaks of 59 (2nd frame) and 57 (3rd frame) to defeat Suraj Rathi 4-0 (93-28, 70(59)-0, 123(57)-7, 72-37) and advance to the last 16.

 

Aditya Mehta Finishes Strong with Century

India No. 2 Aditya Mehta dropped one frame against Manav Panchal, but finished strongly with a brilliant century break of 113 to win 4-1 (94(58)-6, 79-37, 37-69, 72(71)-7, 119(113)-20). His other key contributions included breaks of 58 and 71.

 

Hassan Badami Shocks Siddharth Parikh

Mumbai’s Hassan Badami delivered a standout performance, blanking Siddharth Parikh 4-0 (92(58)-13, 72(43)-21, 79-70, 59(53)-31). Badami started strongly with a 58 break in the first frame and followed it with 43 in the second, maintaining dominance throughout.

 

B.C. Karthik Causes Upset

In a surprising result, B.C. Karthik from Uttar Pradesh defeated Laxman Rawat 4-2 (54-36, 69-50, 63-37, 20-93, 23-74, 57-38), showcasing resilience after dropping two frames.

 

Kreishh Gurbaxani Advances Comfortably

Kreishh Gurbaxani, competing on the professional circuit, secured a 4-1 (75-46, 42-53, 68-9, 68(66)-30, 75-44) win over Shahbaz Khan. He managed a notable 66 break in the fourth frame.

 

Other Key Results

In other matches, Paras Gupta defeated Mahesh Jagdale 4-2 (100(100)-0, 79-32, 22-72, 35-72, 80(64)-19, 77-12), while Digvijay Kadian beat Sumer Mago 4-1 (43-73, 62-24, 73-35, 89-26, 123(70,53)-5). I.M. Manudev blanked Anurag Bagri 4-0, and Brijesh Damani defeated E. Panduranaih 4-0. In a close contest, Rahul Sachdev edged past S. Srikrishna 4-3 (76(48)-20, 80-17, 47-75, 26-68, 56-62, 69-43, 86(75)-7).

 

The CCI Snooker Classic 2026 continues to witness high-quality competition, with top players maintaining strong form as the tournament progresses.