Pankaj Advani reaches the finals of Asian Snooker Championship

The Indian snooker ace, Pankaj Advani, has made his way into the final of the Asian Snooker Championships, registering a 5-3 win over Hong Kong's Cheung Ka Wai in the semifinal at Doha.

The semifinal was a closely fought contest as the 23-time World Champion from India was stretched to his best by Ka Wai. While Advani won the first two frames quite comfortably to race to a 2-0 lead, Cheung Ka Wai soon hit back to equalise the match at 2-2. 

It was a tough battle from there on with none of the two willing to give up on the final berth. The experience of Advani came to show later as the 36-year-old maintained his composure to pocket the match 5-3. The Indian will now face Iran's Amir Sarkhosh in the final tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, Pankaj Advani defeated Hong Kong's Tam Yun Fung 4-2 in the round of 16, before clinching the quarterfinal 5-3 against Iraq's Alijalil Ali. 

The second Indian in action today, Laxman Rawat, on the other hand, fell to a 4-0 loss against Alijalil Ali in the pre-quarterfinals.

Following the end of the Asian Championships tomorrow, Advani is expected to compete at the Qatar 6Red World Cup, which starts on 17th September, along with Ishpreet Singh.