Pankaj Advani defends Asian Billiards Title

Pankaj Advani with the Trophy after winning Asian Billiards Championship.

Khel Today Bureau 

Doha: In a dominating display of billiards,  India’s Pankaj Advani reigned supreme in the Asian Billiards Championship.

Pankaj Advani (India) defeated the current national champion Brijesh Damani (India) 5-1.

Commenting on his win, Pankaj Advani said, “It is one thing to win a title, even more satisfying to defend it! I am extremely thrilled to have secured this title for the 9th time and I look forward to bringing back many more of such titles in the coming years. As per the procedure, I had a direct entry into all the billiards international majors this year, including this Asian tournament and was looking forward to play with my peers.”

After a 5-1 win over Thailand’s Praput Chaithanasakun in the quarterfinals, Pankaj brushed aside Pauk Sa of Myanmar with a similar score line.

Pankaj showed up to the final like a man on a mission. He started off with a 51-break followed by 88 to open a 2-0 lead in the best-of-9 match. Brijesh, who played his first major final and medal in an international billiards championship, pulled one back with a 75 to be within striking distance of his more accomplished opponent but that ended up turning out quite differently.

Bai Yulu of China and Pankaj Advani with Trophy.

Pankaj unleashed another layer of his natural prowess in the 3-ball game by scoring an unfinished century and 66 to go to 4-1, a frame from a successful defence of the coveted continental title.

In the 6th and final frame of the title match, Pankaj scored a championship-winning break 64 to clinch his 13th Asian title overall and 9th billiards. He has also won the Asian Snooker (15 reds) twice, Asian 6-red and Asian team snooker events once each.

Match scores:

Frame Scores: 100(51)-18, 100(88)-9, 86-(54)-101(75), 100(100)-26, 100(66)-2, 101(64)-59.