BENGALURU: Sweet 16 it is for India’s Pankaj Advani. The defending world champion in the timed format added another feather to his cap by clinching his 16th World title and his share in the IBSF World Billiards Championship 150-up format, defeating Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist 6-3 in the final at the Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA) on Monday.
Advani went down to Sourav Kothari in the quarterfinals in the long-up format, but he did not disappoint fans and his second home KSBA, finishing the game in the ninth frame with a 150-15 victory. The Bengaluru boy looked steady from the word go as he claimed the first two frames 150-33 and 150-95 with breaks of 98 and 97. The third game was meant for Gilchrist, who made a stunning comeback with a century break and claimed the frame 150-124. He repeated with another win in the next frame.
But a determined Advani did not let Gilchrist continue the comeback. He won the fifth frame 150-50, scoring two half-century breaks of 87 and 61. Before going into mid-session break, Advani doubled the lead with 150-35.
Long-up champion Gilchrist could not let go of the seventh frame, winning it 150-86 while scoring two half-century breaks of 86 and 53. In the eighth and ninth frame, Advani registered his name on the trophy, after making a comeback to billiards after over six months. Advani’s 110-break in the eighth frame dented Gilchrist’s chances.
However, everything did not go according to plan for the winner. He struggled with the table. After the match, Advani said: “The table was very tricky and we both acknowledged that at the end of the match. Gilchrist also found it difficult to manage with the throwing cushion, and I found a couple of split. When you talk about damp pitch, everyone gets it, but they don’t understand the same with cue sports.”
The title was particularly important for Advani because of the presence of home fans. After the win, Advani said: “It is never easy to win at home, due to so much of expectations. But I am extremely relieved to have this one as I haven’t won many titles this year as compared to the last two. Now people will understand the value of what I have achieved in the last few years.”
This time, the event didn’t see many big names, given that the sport is governed by two world bodies. But Advani said that did not minimise the value of the championship. “I wasn’t there in the WBL’s championship. Similarly, some of them were not there. IBSF and WBL need to solve that problem. As a player, I did my job. But I hope if there is a single body, all good players will play under one roof.”
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com