Multani sets up a clash with Sethi

The frame score was 78-22, 82-26, 30-83, 97-4, 1-64, 68-16.

Multani will now clash with Geet Sethi in what should turn out to be a cracker of a quarter-final on Sunday. Sethi made it to the last eight from Group B, beating Delhi’s Varun Taneja 4-1 in his last league match.

The other to make it to the quarters from Group B was Sarang Shroff. In his last league match, Shroff pipped second seeded Rafat Habib 4-3 in a closely fought match.

With breaks of 42, 40 and 36 in the third, fourth and sixth frames, the Mumbai lad edged out Habib 40-77, 70-57, 79-1, 54-62, 55-19, 45-59, 68-46.International and former National champion Yasin Merchant finally found his touch, trouncing third-seeded Dharmender Lilly (Punjab) 4-1 in a Group C match but still failed to qualify for the quarter-finals to be played on June 15.

Roxton Chapman of United Kingdom and former National champion Ashok Shandilya of Railways have already made it to the quarter-finals from Group C. Roxton drubbed Nalin Patel 4-0 in his last league tie.

Another former National champion, Alok Kumar of Punjab from Group D sidelined local lad Devendra Joshi 4-2 to make it to the last eight stage. Alok Kumar had just one break of 44 in the first frame but still managed to beat an off-coloured Joshi 61-24, 82-38, 42-69, 62-20, 62-73, 62-14.Siddharth Rao from Tamil Nadu, who pipped Manav Panchal of Maharashtra 4-3, was the other cueist from Group D to make it to the knock-out stage.

RESULTS (breaks in brackets)

Group A: Sonic Multani bt D Mackenzie (4-2) 78-22 (Sonic 64), 82-26, 30-83 (Mackenzie 54), 97-4 (Sonic 44, 53), 1-64 (Mackenzie 49), 68-16

Group B: Geet Sethi bt Varun Taneja (4-1) 46-45, 105-0 (Geet 89), 66-31, 66-67, 71-48 (Geet 62); R Thukral bt Varun Taneja (4-3) 55-52, 57-38, 51-71, 9-77 (Taneja 43), 51-81 (Taneja 46), 64-56, 62-27; Sarang Shroff bt Rafat Habib (4-3) 40-77, 70-57, 79-1 (Shroff 42), 54-62 (Shroff 40), 55-19, 45-59 (Shroff 36, Habib 34), 68-46

Group C: Roxton Chapman bt Nalin Patel (4-0): 69-26, 76-31 (Roxton 36, 30), 116-9 (Roxton 39, 55 unf), 107-nil (Roxton 107); Yasin Merchant bt

Dharmender Lilly (4-1) 100-1 (Yasin 100), 37-61, 110-8 (Yasin 50, 44), 86-8 (Yasin 68), 95-nil (Yasin 94); Ashok Shandilya bt Nalin Patel (4-2) 63-57, 72-38, 42-72, 27-68, 111-15 (Ashok 78), 88-5 (Ashok 56)

Group D: Siddharth Rao bt Manav Panchal (4-3) 28-63, 53-66, 78-25 (Rao 59), 87-nil (Rao 81), 46-58, 79-18 (Rao 45), 54-31; Alok Kumar bt D Joshi (4-2) 61-24 (Alok 49), 82-38, 42-69, 62-20, 62-73, 62-14; Irfan Mirza bt Manav Panchal (4-2) 77-30 (Mirza 63), 36-63, 9-46, 59-48, 72-30, 79-22 (Mirza 44)

SNOOKER QUARTERS LINE-UP

Sonic Multani vs Geet Sethi; Ashok Shandilya vs Alok Kumar; Roxton Chapman vs Subhash B. Agrawal; Siddharth Rao vs Sarang Shroff