Pankaj Advani had to stretch every sinew to quell the challenge of Alok Kumar and win the MCC-Kumbhat all-India invitation 6-red snooker championship here on Sunday.
In a best-of-13-frame final, Advani prevailed 68-0, 37-1, 0-62, 0-41, 71-41, 72-0, 36-37, 45-16, 28-13, 6-45, 0-48, 17-39, 39-30.
It all boiled down to a nervy final frame which had all the ingredients of a thriller — some very good potting, safety play and many misses.
After some initial jostling, Alok managed a free run on the table and was going well when a red flirted and stayed put agonisingly close to the pocket.
Grabbing the chance, Advani pulled back only to hand over the advantage with a foul. It however, wasn’t Alok’s day as he missed a brown at a crucial time and Advani emerged the winner.
Alok, though dejected, said: “I haven’t played so well in the last two years and I doubt if anyone has put up such safety play against Pankaj.”
Alok had reasons to feel proud. Always playing catch-up when Advani raced to pick up two frames, Alok did well to keep himself in the run pocketing the next two frames.
Advani, though, was in roaring form and pulled ahead with resounding wins in the next two and looked set to go all the way. However, Alok had other plans as he kept pace to take the game to the decider.
Earlier in the semifinals, Advani ended Shivam Arora’s winning run with a 6-2 victory. “I have nothing to lose and will give it my all,” Shivam had said before the match. However, his all was not good enough to see him past the world champion.
In the other semifinal, Alok defeated Lucky Vatnani 6-2.
The results: Final: Pankaj Advani bt Alok Kumar 7-6 (68(68)-0, 37-1, 0-68(68), 0-41, 71(71)-0, 72-0, 36-37, 45-16, 28-13, 9-41, 0-48, 17-39, 39-30). Semifinals (best-of-11 frames): Advani bt Shivam Arora 6-2 (41-14, 48-1, 48-14, 23-50, 41-0, 0-46, 37-19, 69-0; Alok bt Lucky Vatnani 6-2 (0-42, 35-31, 43-32, 41-11, 36-0, 2-36, 59-15, 48-8).
