Home favourite Pankaj Advani took out Iran’s Ehsan Heydari 6-4 in the final to emerge as the ACBS Asian 10-red snooker tour third leg champion, at KSBA here on Thursday.
Advani looked in control in the early stages, taking a handy 3-1 lead. Heydari then mounted a comeback to pull it level at 3-3. Heydari made a crucial error in the seventh frame which gave Advani the edge. Up 35-34, Heydari missed a pink, allowing Advani back to the table.
Advani duly mopped up to make it 4-3.
Ehsan managed to win the next frame, and gained control with a 35-4 lead in the ninth frame. Advani, however, stormed back with a superb 49-break.
A 50-break by Advani in the tenth was enough to shut Heydari out of the contest.
“I’m elated and relieved. To win on my home turf feels special,” Advani, who finished as the Tour topper, said.
Advani won $12,000, while Heydari took home $6,000.
Unwanted interruption
The summit clash witnessed an undesirable interruption in the middle of the seventh frame. Amid pin-drop silence, as Advani got into cueing position, a tournament official barged in and called a halt to the action. The official welcomed Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS) President Mohamed Salem Al-Nuaimi and ACBS Secretary Michael Al-Khoury, and introduced them to the stunned audience. Al-Nuaimi and Al-Khoury, from Qatar and Syria respectively, were then guided to their seats.
To their credit, both Heydari and Advani handled the interruption with grace and dignity.
The result:
Final:
Pankaj Advani bt Ehsan Heydari 52-40, 66-0, 1-63, 78-4, 35-47, 0-51, 47-35, 38-39, 53-35, 51-20.
Semifinals:
Ehsan Heydari (Irn) bt Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon (Tha) 56-1, 46-5, 5-85, 1-57, 0-98, 92-0, 53-7, 67-36; Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Aung Phyo (Myn) 50-27, 92-0, 86-15, 12-62, 54-30, 24-70, 79-5.
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