World Games 2025: Cueists Sourav Kothari, Shivam Arora advance to quarter-finals

In a day of intense competition at the World Games, Indian cueists Sourav Kothari and Shivam Arora secured their spots in the quarter-finals of their respective disciplines.

Their success, however, was accompanied by the elimination of teammates Kamal Chawla and Natasha Chethan.

In a thrilling snooker preliminary group match match that went down to the final black, Sourav Kothari, despite a 1-2 defeat to Great Britain's Darryl Hill, advanced to the last eight.

Kothari's progression was a result of a superior frame average (+1) in a three-way tie with Hill and Zac Cosker.

Cosker, who had lost to Kothari earlier, defeated Hill 2-0 to finish second in the group.

Kothari will face china's Guodong Xiao in quater-final tommorrow.

Shivam Arora, a Commonwealth Championships silver medalist in heyball, delivered a dominant performance in his pre-quarterfinal match, defeating Kevin Zarekani of Sweden 5-1.

Arora was in complete control throughout the "Race-to-5" match and is now set to face Yip Kin Ling of Hong Kong China for a place in the medal round.

The other two Indian hopefuls, Kamal Chawla and Natasha Chethan, were unable to progress.

Chawla, who had a promising start, lost 1-2 to former professional Michael Georgiou of Cyprus in a closely contested match. In the women's 6-red snooker, Natasha Chethan was eliminated after a 1-2 defeat to the formidable Wendy Jans of Belgium.

Results:

Men's Snooker: Darryl Hill (GBR) beat Sourav Kothari (Ind) 2-1; Michael Georgiou (Cyp) beat Kamal Chawla (Ind) 2-1.

Heyball Mixed (Pre-quarters): Shivam Arora (Ind) beat Kevin Zarekani (Swe) 5-1.

Women's 6-red Snooker: Wendy Jans (Bel) beat Natasha Chethan (Ind) 2-1.