Defending junior billiards champion Pankaj Advani and strong challenger Aditya Mehta took their appointed places in the semi-finals of the event in the ongoing National Billiards and Snooker Tournament with comprehensive victories in Mumbai on Thursday.

Also through to the last four were Saurav Kothari, son of former world amateur champion Manoj, of Bengal and Rishab Thakkar of Maharashtra, a prot�g� of former three-time world amateur winner Michael Ferreira.

Bangalore-based Advani, a former IBSF World Snooker champion representing Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, recorded three century breaks of 119, 146 and 101 on way to demolish Maharashtra's Rishab Pandya 1001-12 for a place in the round-robin semi-finals.

Mumbai-based Mehta got past AP's Lucky Vatiani 462-330, with the help of two significant breaks of 77 and 57, in the one and a half hour quarter-final at the suburban Goregaon Sports Club.