The group (league) stage of the Gloster 82nd senior National billiards championship concluded at the BRC here on Wednesday, setting the stage for the pre-quarterfinal knockout battle beginning on Thursday.
Based on the performances in the league, seedings were redrawn after which multiple world champion and hot favourite,
PSPB’s Pankaj Advani, got the top billing. Railways’ Ashok Shandilya is No.2 and defending champion Sourav Kothari (PSPB) is seeded fourth behind Rupesh Shah (PSPB).
Kothari meets Dhvaj Haria first, and a win will pit him against last year’s finalist Alok Kumar in the quarterfinals. If the seedings hold, Advani would await him in the semifinals. The best-of-five pre-quarterfinals will be played 150 points up. The quarterfinals and the semifinals will be of best-of-seven frames 150 up, and the final will be best-of-nine 150 up.
“Whatever the draw, one has to give his best. Every match is tough and any player can beat the other on his day,” said Kothari.
Former world champion Manoj Kothari said 12 players of the 16 in the knock-outs were capable of breaks of 200 and more. The surprise package from the league stages was Railways’ Nikhil Ghadge who made it through. Ghadge had to qualify for the main draw, and from there made it to the knockout at the expense of seventh-seeded Malkeet Singh (Railways) from group G.
Advani’s featOn Tuesday, Advani became the first player at the National championships to score three back-to-back centuries in a game, on his way to a 100-0, 100-32, 102-0 victory over Tamil Nadu’s S. Shrikrishna in a group H league match.
