Rehani, Chandra in last eight

Indian cueists Mukesh Rehani and Manan Chandra had a smooth passage into the last eight in the singles event of Nine Pool and Snooker in the 14th Asian Games in Busan on Friday night.

In snooker singles, the 21-year old Manan Chandra played a superb fourth frame to win his first match against Noppadol Sangnil of Thailand 56-60, 66-54, 67-36, 88-1 and then progressed to the quarter-finals with a strong win over the higher rated Marco Ka Chun Fu. He won 63-9, 32-80, 70-14 and 69-30.

His compatriat and experienced Yasin Merchant failed to cross the first round, losing to Long Jin of China at 48-73, 24-54, 68-15, 30-69.

In the nine ball pool singles, Mukesh Rehani was at his best while beating the seasoned Akikumo Toshikawa of Japan at 11-7.

Dharmender Lily, however, lost his first round match to Choon Kiat Tey of Singapore at 4-11.