Sunday, Oct 26, 2003
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Billiards & Snooker
WORLD CHAMPION: Pankaj Advani, who won the World snooker title by beating Pakistan's Mohammed Saleh in the final at Jiangmen, China, on Friday. He is the second Indian after Om Agarwal to lift this coveted trophy .
In an India-Pakistan final at the IBSF World snooker championship here on Saturday, Advani defeated Mohammed Saleh 11-6 in a contest that rose to the dizzy heights, at least in the first session. Authoring a table clearance break of 135 in the 14th frame, Advani showed his class with a 11-6 win in the best-of-21-frame final. The Indian won 35-64, 7-79, 73-10, 66-56, 46-59, 87-13, 81-43, 71-13, 0-95, 15-93, 64-36, 78-33, 43-47, 135-0, 65-46, 70-67, 63-22. Advani became the only second Indian after Om Agarwal to win the World title at this level. And, being still at 19 years Advani promises to achieve more in the years to come. Agarwal was the winner in the 1984 championship held in Ireland when he had defeated Terry Parsons of the Wales. Whatever would have been the outcome of the Advani-Saleh final clash, the teenager proved beyond doubt that he is unparalleled when it comes to big occasions. His National title winning performance in Jammu early this year drew both awe and admiration. Though many fellow cueists would take his progress with a pinch of salt. Not many had liked his sudden rise to the top echelon, but its now time to celebrate the spectacular triumph of skill and patience over the big-break master. After the first session in the morning, Advani and Saleh were locked at 5-5 despite the Pakistani cueist had an early advantage of 2-0 lead. In the highly competitive constest, Saleh won the first two frames, 64-35, 79-7 with a break of 71 in the second. Advani responded nicely by taking the third frame 73-10 with a break of 64, and then he levelled the tie by claiming the fourth frame (66-56). Saleh led briefly by winning the fifth frame before Advani scripted a fine comeback and reeled off three frames on the trot for a healthy 5-3 lead. A break of 83 for Saleh again brought the contest into focus as the two ended the first session at even par (5-5). On resuming in the afternoon, Advani was in a class of his own. He solidified his lead by taking the 11th and 12th frame before Saleh pulled on back. But the Pakistani resistance ended there. Advani made a table-clearance with a spectacular break of 135 and then pocketed the remaining three frames to clinch the coveted trophy. Steve Misfud of Australia was the 2002 champion when the event was held in Egypt. On Friday, Advani and Saleh had set-up an all Asian final at the 2003 IBSF World Snooker Championships. Advani had established a narrow 4-3 lead over Brendan O'Donoghue after the first session of the best-of-15-frame semifinal. The Irishman just failed to get going in the second session as Advani went on to win 8-3. In the other semifinal, Saleh also had 4-3 advantage against Mark Allen of Northern Ireland, but the contest would go till the 13 frames before Saleh booked the berth in the final with a 8-5 verdict.
Our Mumbai Special Correspondent adds:
Applauding Pankaj Advani's Senior World title win in China, Geet Sethi who has excelled in World billiards at amateur and professional levels said: "It's fantastic for Indian snooker. OB (Om Agrawal) won the title 19 years ago. I have always believed that he (Pankaj) will win many world titles. This should be the first of the many. The fact that Pankaj is only 18 exemplifies he's something special. He's won at the right age. The road to professional snooker is long and hard. But he's young and can take that journey. He's the talent and temperament and values hard work. He's surpassed Manan Chandra. Support for sport is achievement-driven. Hopefully Indian snooker will receive a big boost from the Corporates now.''
Our Kolkata Special Correspondent adds:
National champion Pankaj Advani, who won the World snooker championship defeating second seed Saleh Mohammad of Pakistan by 10 frames to 6, drew praise from the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI). The BSFI president, Mr. P.N. Roy termed the victory of the Bangalore lad as "fantastic'' and said "he has done all of us proud by winning the coveted title at such a young age.'' Mr. Roy said Advani's triumph would augur well for the sport in India. The BSFI secretary, Mr. Charanjit Kapoor, said Advani had made every Indian proud by his achievement. "I am one of the happiest to hear the news of his winning the World title. He has done a great service to his country,'' he said and wished Advani many more such victories. The results: Final: Pankaj Advani (Ind.) bt Mohammed Saleh (Pak.) 11-6 (35-64, 7-79, 73-10, 66-56, 46-59, 87-13, 81-43, 71-13, 0-95, 15-93, 64-36, 78-33, 43-47, 135-0, 65-46, 70-67, 63-22. Semifinals: Pankaj Advani (Ind.) bt Brendan O'Donoghue (Ire.) 8-3 (80-18, 63-23, 46-65, 74-5, 28-50, 93-7, 65-73, 68-1, 66-57, 63-17, 93-15). Mohammed Saleh (Pak.) bt Mark Allen (N.Ire.) 8-5 (111-9, 93-4, 13-62, 56-20, 25-88, 6-77, 94-40, 67-42, 14-64, 46-62, 71-23, 62-29, 58-22).
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