The Hindu : Sport / Billiards & Snooker : Advani begins in style

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Friday, Sep 07, 2007
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Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Advani begins in style

New Delhi: Pankaj Advani launched his title defence with two emphatic victories on Wednesday, the opening day of the IBSF World billiards championship in Singapore.

Advani scored 3-0 wins over Larry Drennan of Ireland and Paul Wereta of New Zealand in the 150-up point format.

The 21-year-old Indian won the point as well as the time format titles in 2005 to become only the second cueist in the world to win both world billiards and snooker titles.

Former champion Geet Sethi thrashed his opponents Kyaw Oo of Myanmar and Pakistani youngster Imran Shahzad without conceding a frame.

Among the other Indians in the fray, Dhruv Sitwala, lost to Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist 3-1, but carved out impressive 3-1 wins against Mathew David Sutton of England and Udon Kaimuk of Thailand.

Doha billiards gold medal winner Ashok Shandilya also maintained his clean slate by winning both his matches on the first day of the event. He defeated Glenn Yeo Teck Shin of Singapore 3-1 and managed a 3-2 win against Thanh Binh Nguyen of Vietnam in Group C.

Former National champion Rupesh Shah lost 3-2 to Moh Loon Hong of Malaysia but scored a 3-0 win over Kiwi Gary Oliver.

The results (involving Indians): Pankaj Advani bt Larry Drennan 3-0, bt Paul Wereta 3-0; Geet Sethi bt Kyaw Oo 3-0, bt Imran Shahzad 3-0; Dhruv Sitwala lost to Peter Gilchrist 3-1, bt Mathew David Sutton 3-1, bt Udon Kaimuk 3-1; Ashok Shandilya bt Glenn Yeo Teck Shin 3-1, bt Thanh Binh Nguyen 3-2; Rupesh Shah lost to Moh Loon Hong 3-2, bt Gary Oliver 3-0. — PTI