India’s Pankaj Advani on Thursday won his third straight IBSF billiards crown in the 150-up format, taking his overall tally of world titles to a staggering 20. The 33-year-old overcame Nay Thway Oo of Myanmar in a high-quality final.
After bossing the ‘150-up’ format, Advani will now compete in the longer version, ‘Up’ format.
It was also a proud moment for Myanmar which saw its own player in the title round for the first time. Oo did well to oust multiple world champion Mike Russell in the semifinals with a convincing 5-2 victory.
Lacing in experience
Though Oo had home support and overall advantage, he was evidently lacking in the experience of competing in a World Championship final. He was denied much opportunity to reproduce the magic of his previous match.
Oo wasn’t given much breathing space as Advani was on a mission to retain his title. And he did so with absolute supremacy. His fluency left even the local crowd in awe.
Advani started off in the final with a century break of 108. But since he wasn’t able to settle down at the top of the table, the high-scoring zone, he couldn’t reach the 150-mark of the frame, allowing his opponent on to the table.
Oo, however, did not capitalise and the Indian drew first blood. But the Myanmar cueist made it 1-1 with the help of a 147 break.
The Indian pulled one back to maintaining the lead with breaks of 91 and 54 to go 2-1 ahead. However, Oo added another century to make the score two apiece. But from there, Advani went into overdrive and never looked back.
The next four frames in the race-to-six encounter saw Advani play with dominance as he compiled four back-to-back centuries of 141, 129, 145 and 151 to stamp his authority.
‘Special win’
“This win is extremely special for me. It’s a perfect 20 and I’m glad that I’m still hungry for more,” he said. It’s pleasing to be able to play at a quality level over the years and looking to take this tally beyond a ‘score’,” said the champion.
The victory also marks a hat-trick of wins in the shorter format. Advani had won in Bengaluru in 2016 before doing the same in Doha last year.
Earlier, Advani topped his group without dropping a frame.
In the entire tournament, the Indian dropped only three frames — one in the quarterfinal against Dhvaj and two in the final.
The results (knock-out): Final: Pankaj Advani bt Nay Thway Oo 6-2 (150(108)-21, 0-151(147), 151(91, 54)-0, 4-151(103), 151(141)-11, 150(129)-81(77), 151(145)-109(52,57), 151(151)-0).
Semifinals: Advani bt David Causier 5-0 (150(97)-73, 152(139)-17, 152(83, 69)-8, 151(151)-4, 157(74, 51)-86(83).
