New Delhi: Pankaj Advani lost to world No. 2 Judd Trump of England in the quarterfinals of BetVictor Welsh Open Pro Snooker Series at Newport, Wales on Friday.
Eight-time World champion, Advani put up a brave fight after losing the first four frames and stretched the Englishman to the limit before eventually losing 2-5.
Earlier, the Indian ace had created history by becoming the first Indian to reach the quarterfinals of Welsh Open Pro Snooker Series.
Advani, after losing in the quarters, said that he was happy with how he played in the tournament and had lost to a terrific player.
The English was in fantastic form when he took the first two frames in a short span of time and won it 73-20 and 72-19. In the third, the Brit scored a 52 break to stretch the gap to 3-0. In the fourth frame, Advani scored a 39 break before Trump cleared the table with a 78 to be one frame away from booking his semi-final berth.
However after a mandatory break, Advani came back to avoid the impending whitewash by winning the fifth frame. There was surprise in store in the sixth frame as Advani came up with some spectacular performance to win it to make it 2-4. However, Trump scored a fluent 69 break to end the fine tournament Advani has had.
Advani had defeated Scotland's Graeme Dott 4-1 in the pre-quarters on Thursday while on Wednesday, he had emerged victorious against former world champion, England's Shaun Murphy, 4-3 in the Round of 32.
Scores: 73-20, 72-19, 69-3, 78 (78)-39 (39), 18-62 (38), 59(59)-66 (33), 98(69)-0.