Chengdu: It was a disappointing end to India's campaign in the International Championship as the two poster boys of Indian cue sport - Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta - bowed out of the major ranking snooker event, losing their respective first round matches here.
Indian Open finalist, Aditya went down 3-6 to England's Rod Lawler, who top scored with 103, while eight-time world champion Advani suffered from food poisoning just minutes before his opening game against Englishman Dave Harold, who defeated the 27-year-old cueist 6-4 in the USD 9,50,000 event.
"Once your health is under attack, it's not much one can do. Given my condition, I am pleased with my performance," Advani told PTI.
"It was unfortunate to suffer the way I did during the match. I look forward to recovering and preparing for the next long stint in England over November and December," he added.
Despite suffering from an upset stomach, which Advani developed as he was walking out to the table to play his match, the Bangalore-based cueist came up with multiple breaks and took the fight into the opponent's camp.
It was a see-saw battle which saw Advani making a comeback on three occasions. Down two frames, Advani won the third at 60-14. Harold again surged ahead with a fine break of 104 in the fourth but the Indian came up with a good clearance in the next to make the scoreline 3-2.
Fully aware of Advani's comeback prowess, Harold upped the ante and reigned supreme on the green baize to take the next two frames with relative ease.
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