Pankaj Advani, India’s most prolific cuesport player, brushed off Rupesh Shah’s challenge to clinch the billiards crown of the Manisha National billiards and snooker championship at the PYC Gymkhana here on Tuesday. It was the 31-year-old’s eighth National billiards title.
In fact, he had bagged his seventh at the Kolkata Nationals, a triumph that was not updated in the personal portal. Advani won the final, set to nine games, 5-1 in a little under three-and-half hours.
“If Rupesh had the won the first game, the outcome would have been probably closer. He had a chance to make it 4-2 too. He has been the best and most consistent player in the Nationals, but that’s the way it goes,” said a gracious Advani after receiving the winner’s cup and cheque for Rs. 30,000 from Rajan Khinvasara, BSFI vice-president and president of the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM), and also the sponsor.
The face of Indian cuesport for a long time now, Advani was delighted with his performance.
“It’s obviously a great feeling. In India, we have a rich cuesport legacy... we have a galaxy of billiards stars, champions who have won multiple National and world titles, starting with Wilson Jones, Michael Ferreira and then Geet Sethi. Rupesh himself has won three world titles in billiards. We had some top-class players here and to come out on top in such a field is definitely a special feeling,” said Advani.
The results:
Final: Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 5-1 [(150(83)-135, 150(150)-54(54), 151(109)-122(113), 104-151(144), 151(74, 67)-112)].
Third-place play-off: Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Brijesh Damani (PSPB) 3-0 [150(103)-116, 150(134)-32, 150(140)-9] .
