Kothari had an easy victory over compatriot Shyam Jagtiani in a crucial group match. Kothari's win by over 700 points earned him the top spot in the group with young Mathew Bolton of Australia as the second qualifier.

Nalin Patel and Thailand's Udon Khaimuk were involved in an intense match with the Indian trailing by 100 points at the half-way stage, but pulled through 1151-897 to finish second in the group behind Neil Croft.

It was a very hard-fought victory for Nalin who played very much below form in the first session of two hours. After resumption, he made a century break which helped him regain confidence and he went on to record a 251 to romp home a comfortable winner.

Arun Agrawal, suffering from a stiff neck, was facing defeat with 45 minutes left on the clock as he trailed by over 500 points to PaulBennett.

Incidentally, both have qualified for the pre-quarters and the result of this game would decide the first two positions.

Meanwhile, Subhash Agrawal had a cakewalk against George Ganim of Australia who flattered in the early stages by leading 276-71. However, Subhash annihilated the Aussie once he got going 2039-823.

Joe Minici of Australia beat B Bhaskar to top the group. Bhaskar has all the shots in his grasp but does not reproduce them during matches as there seems to be something lacking this normally outstanding player. Thailand's Praput and Sri Lanka's Sirisoma also made it to the pre-quarters.