The results (India ‘B’ players first): Rupesh Shah lost to B. Bhaskar 160-163; Pankaj Advani bt Alok Kumar 439-193; Devendra Joshi lost to Sourav Kothari 189-271; Advani bt Bhaskar 242-214; Shah lost to Kothari 161-384; Ashok Shandilya bt Alok 442-132; Advani bt Kothari 613-116; Shah bt Alok 379-90; Shandilya lost to Bhaskar 245-353.
Ace cueist Pankaj Advani was in top form during the title clash of the inaugural World Team Billiards championship in Glasgow on Thursday.
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| Devendra Joshi, Rupesh Shah, Pankaj Advani and Ashok Shandilya, Photo by The Hindu |
The 28-year-old eight-time world champion and two-time Asian Games gold medal winner scored a crucial 242-214 victory over B. Bhaskar as India ‘B’ upset India ‘A’ 5-4 in the final which was set to nine frames of one hour each.
However, the win that clinched the title for India ‘B’ was Advani’s resounding 613-116 win over national champion Sourav Kothari. Advani also beat Alok Kumar 439-193.
“All of us are extremely excited to win the team billiards championship held for the first time. I am dedicating this, on behalf of my teammates, to the nation on Independence Day,” said Advani over e-mail.
Talking to The Hindu from Glasgow on Friday, India ‘B’ player Devendra Joshi said: “Three matches were played at the same time and we did not know what was happening in the third round. Pankaj was simply outstanding against Kothari. It was very satisfying for me personally, as I have never won an individual gold medal in a world championship.”
India ‘A’, which had in its ranks the semifinalists of the last nationals (Kothari, Kumar, Bhaskar and Dhruv Sitwala), was the favourite to win the title and prize money of £2000, but Advani, who has taken a break from professional snooker, found his touch to win all three matches. India ‘A’ received £1000 for finishing runner-up. In the semifinals, India ‘A’ stunned England 5-1 while the ‘B’ team trounced Ireland 6-0. Played on an experimental basis and as part of the Billiards Festival coinciding with the Commonwealth Games, World Team Billiards is likely to be made a biennial or quadrennial event.
“Team snooker was played in Egypt recently and now team billiards. I would like team billiards and snooker to be played at national-level competitions in India. The PSPB, Railways, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Bengal can field teams in both billiards and snooker. This will keep billiards alive,” said Joshi.
Former world champion Rupesh Shah revealed that he was not keen to play his third match, a contest that proved vital in the end. “My last match with Alok turned out to be the most crucial. I had lost the first two and was low on confidence. I wanted to opt out, but my teammates boosted my confidence before the crucial match,” said Shah.
The other teams in the competition included Austria, England and four from Scotland. England could not field champion cueist Mike Russell as he was away in Qatar while David Causier could not be fielded as he had not played in the UK national championship.
Singapore did not field a team as it did not have quality players to support Peter Gilchrist, who won the Glasgow Open title and prize money of £320, beating India’s Shah, Advani and Kothari.
By The Hindu
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