Pankaj Advani shines as Indians dominate opening day

Sourav Kothari overcame a tough challenge to win his opening match in the IBSF World Billiards Championship, while Pankaj Advani and other Indian players registered dominant victories on the opening day of the tournament

Hyderabad: Reigning champion Sourav Kothari survived a scare in his opening match of the IBSF World Billiards Championship that got underway in Carlow (Ireland) on Saturday.

The Indian ace overcame South Korea’s Hwang Chulho 305-238 after being down by over 120-odd points with about 30 minutes to go. Kothari, also the reigning National champion, came up with a crucial break of 111 to put it past the tricky Korean.

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The 41-year-old will look to make amends in his next match against France’s Akhilesh Mohan later in the day.

There were no hiccups for most of the other Indian contenders in action on the opening day. Former champion Pankaj Advani’s runaway 1003-54 win over Michael Crook of Isle of Man was the highlight of the day.

Advani floored his rival with a barrage of breaks, as runs of 198, 297 and 117 flowed from his cue. The 40-year-old Bengalurean reduced his senior opponent to a mere spectator in the 90-minute affair.

Dhruv Sitwala, looking for his maiden World title, began his campaign with a workmanlike 645-115 win over Carl-Walter Steiner of Austria in a Group ‘C’ match. The southpaw, runner-up four times, began with a fluent break of 286 early in the game and had further runs of 101 and 101 in his crushing victory.

Seasoned Alok Kumar scored a lopsided 502-202 win over Aonghus McAnally of Ireland in another Group ‘C’ match.

Results (Indians unless mentioned): Group A: Sourav Kothari 305 (73, 111) bt Hwang Chulho (Kor) 238 (51, 57); Martin Goodwill (Eng) bt Akhilesh Mohan (Fra) 322-174.

Group B: Pankaj Advani 1003 (198, 297, 117) bt Michael Crook (IOM) 54.

Group C: Dhruv Sitwala 645 (286, 101, 101) bt Carl-Walter Steiner (Aut) 115; Alok Kumar 502 (112) bt Aonghus McAnally (Ire) 202.

Group D: Rafath Habib 365 (67) bt Subrat Das 219.

Group E: Rupesh Shah 311 (123, 82) bt Rishabh Thakkar 170 (89).

Group F: Shrikrishna S 609 (99, 69, 83, 118) bt Jagadesh Bhuvaneswaran 87.