Published: January 17, 2026 at 9:46 pm
Four-time champion Aditya Mehta, playing some of his best snooker in recent times, scored a lopsided 5-0 win over an off-colour Laxman Rawat to storm into the final of the senior men’s National Snooker Championship in Bahadurgarh, Haryana, on Saturday.
The seasoned Mumbaikar, who played eight full seasons as a professional, set up a date with fellow PSPB cueist Pankaj Advani in a repeat of the 2020 final. Advani, the reigning champion, outclassed Ketan Chawla of Madhya Pradesh after a slow start 5-1 in the other semifinal.
The fluent 59 break in the opening frame of the best-of-nine frame encounter got Aditya going. Another gritty 55 break flowed from his cue in the next, and the former World Games gold medallist then just breezed through the next two frames for a 4-0 lead at the break.
Aditya just continued from where he left off on resumption, ending his rival’s agony quickly with a silken smooth effort of 61. Aditya, who has had a good 2025 despite making modifications to his cue action in the last 6-7 years due to his neck injury, will look to reclaim the title he won six years ago.
Pankaj Advani outclassed Ketan Chawla of Madhya Pradesh after a slow start 5-1 in the other semifinal
At the adjacent table, Advani, who defeated promising Rayaan Razmi in a late-night quarterfinal on Friday, was slow to start against giant-killer Chawla, who had earlier defeated reigning National 6-red champion Dhvaj Haria in the quarters.
The loss of the first frame saw Advani up his game several notches. The champion then had his rival on a tight leash, troubling his younger rival with his superior safety play. Although he didn’t make any big breaks, he scored whenever he got an opportunity, and they were plenty on the day.
Results (semifinals): Aditya Mehta (PSPB) beat Laxman Rawat (PSPB) 5-0 (72 (59) -41, 67 (55) -04, 66-25, 81-1, 73 (61) -1); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Ketan Chawla (MP) 5-1 (47-74, 72-28, 83-20, 71-50, 81 (58) -46, 71 (71) -8). Quarterfinals: Advani beat Rayaan Razmi (Mah) 5-2 (22-76 (55), 0-98 (86), 106 (93) -5, 68-9, 73-51, 58-41, 71-30); Mehta beat Sourav Kothari (PSPB) 5-1 (75-52, 66-0, 73-65, 18-61, 71-8, 56-14); Rawat beat Malkeet Singh (RSPB) 5-2 (60-9, 109 (91) -0, 54-70, 71 (51) -0, 70-16, 41-73, 64-28); Ketan beat Dhvaj Haria (PSPB) 5-3 (38-70, 22-69, 64 (64) -9, 76-28, 66-58, 49-61, 78-66, 75-59).
