A grand double for Advani

With Pankaj Advani on the rampage, it was difficult for the others to have a say in the World billiards championship. Avinash Nair reports.

Pankaj Advani is the true king of billiards at the world level. The 23-year-old Bangalorean has dominated the sport so much in recent times that it’s time Geet Sethi, who donned the mantle for almost three decades, makes way for Advani completely.

And ironically it was Geet Sethi himself who was at the receiving end of Pankaj’s all-conquering run.

If it was in the final of the points format that Geet caved in without a fight, 1-6, in the time format the former champion’s winning streak was rudely halted by Pankaj’s brilliance. Maybe Pankaj was avenging the defeat inflicted on him in the World Pro billiards event at Leeds, just over a month ago.

Not in the recent past has anybody played as Pankaj did in both the finals. Against Geet in the points format, Pankaj raced away to a 3-0 lead before going into the break.

He returned a couple of hours later to pile on the agony on the senior pro with a string of big breaks to win 6-1. Geet was left sitting in his corner and soon after the match credited Pankaj for his ability to raise the level of his game on the big stage.

In the time format, Pankaj did survive a scare of sorts against ‘old foe’ Sourav Kothari before eking out a narrow win in the quarterfinals. But it was just the wake-up call that Pankaj needed to stamp his class with thumping victories over Geet Sethi (semis) and Devendra Joshi (final).

The final almost turned into a ‘no-contest’, as the first session ended with Pankaj leading by a flattering 1100 odd points. Pankaj’s potting was incredible and there was a string of double century breaks with a 327 in between.

Joshi, a World billiards finalist in 1995 and the Asian billiards champion in 2003, however, found his rhythm and fluency. He strung two successive triple century breaks (338 and 364) to bridge the lead. But Pankaj produced a 289 in this session to maintain a firm grip on the match.

In the third session when not many gave Joshi much of a chance, he turned in an imposing 557 (36th visit) to bring the match alive again. A 208 and a 103 followed from Joshi towards the close. But it only helped in narrowing the final margin as Pankaj showed pluck and poise in stringing a 253 and a 100 to win handsomely by 348 points (2368-2020).

The ONGC-sponsored championship on the whole was an Indian show with only Peter Gilchrist left to pose a threat. But in both the formats the Englishman, now a Singapore citizen, crashed out in the quarters to provide the Indians a clear path.

Praprut Chaithanasakun and Thawat Sujaritthurakarn, both of Thailand, provided a flourish or two, but never seriously questioned the Indian domination.

The rest from the field of 32 just made up the numbers, a pointer to the steady decline of the sport.

The likes of Mathew Bolton from Australia and the Myanmar players — all proficient in billiards — did not turn up, thus reducing the competitive element in the event.

Australia, in particular, boasts of a good set of billiards players, and their absence could have been due to the bomb blasts in Bangalore in late July.

The blasts also proved to be a dampner as the championship could be confirmed only in the third week of August. Players from Afghanistan were encouraged to send in their entries with two slots left open till the morning of the event, but sadly none turned up.

The Indians, understandably, filled the slots with as many as 14 taking part in the points format and 13 in the time event.

The KSBA once again deserves appreciation.

The Association is planning to renovate the venue, and make it really world class.

The prize money was US $4000. The Karnataka Sports Minister, Gulihatti D Shekar also announced Rs. 1 lakh for each title winner.

Points format: Final: (Best of 11 frames): Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Geet Sethi (Ind) 6-1 (150-90, 151-0, 150-24, 150-0, 86-150, 150-72, 150-12).

Semifinals (Best of nine frames); Pankaj Advani bt Rupesh Shah 5-3; Geet Sethi bt Devendra Joshi 5-3.

Time format: Final (Six hours): Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Devendra Joshi (Ind) 2368-2020.

Semifinals (Four hours): Pankaj Advani bt Geet Sethi 1269-1003; Devendra Joshi bt Rupesh Shah 1228-820.