Keerath enters U-21 snooker knockout stage

Al Fujairah (UAE), May 13 (IANS) Keerath Bhandaal of India qualified for the knockout stage of the IBSF World Under-21 snooker championships here by defeating compatriot Saniya Arif 3-0 to finish third in her group.

It was Keerath’s only win in Group A where she finished third behind Sripaporn Nuanthakhamjan (Thailand) and Russia’s Anastasia Nechaeva and Monday qualified for the top six stage.

Saniya Arif lost all her three matches in the group and finished last while in the other group, Varsha Sanjeev lost 0-3 to Daria Sirotina (Russia) for her second defeat.

In boys section, Dhvaj Haria with three wins in as many matches, was leading in his group while fellow-Indians Ashutosh Phady (two wins in three outings), Sahil Nayyar with a 2-1 win-loss record and Ishpreet Singh Chadha who has won both his matches, were still in contention for the knock-out stage.