Advani thwarts feisty Joshi in final

By Manuja Veerappa

Bengaluru

Sept. 10: Only the gifted create history and when they do so, they do it in style. The blue-eyed boy of Indian cuesports, Pankaj Advani, did just that as he added title number six to his trophy cabinet at the KSBA on Wednesday.

In a fitting finish to the event, the 23-year-old Bengaluru boy annexed the IBSF World Billiards Championship title (time format), in an encounter which will go down in history as a match which not only showcased Indian talent, but also put on display the determination and perseverance of champion players. Advani thwarted a feisty challenge from Devendra Joshi to win the title 2368–2022.

With this victory, the champion cueist added many firsts to his name, among them being the first player to clinch the point and time format double on two occasions while completing a hat-trick of time formats.

Advani had completed the point and time format double in Malta in 2005. After his wins in 2005 and 2007 time format events, Bengaluru was the stage for his hat-trick.

Following a draining semifinal against Geet Sethi on Tuesday, it was imperative for Advani to start well, especially as he was up against a formidable player in Joshi.

As the defending champion kick-started his title tilt, it was clear that he had a definite plan in place for the six-hour match spread over three sessions.

He started off with a 219-break on his third visit. He followed it with bigger breaks of 327, 231 and 274 to close the first session at 1274 points. On the other hand, Joshi faltered in his judgment and potting and managed just 151 for a deficit of 1123 points. The tag of ‘Mr. Unpredictable’ fits Joshi well, for, just when people had written him off, the 48-year-old, who had entered the championship as a qualifier, showed his class.

With breaks of 338 and 364 on his 28th and 30th visits, Joshi bounced back into contention.

The scores stood 1812-1033 in favour of Advani at the end of the second session. Joshi had come a long way, yet bridging the 779 points deficit was a tall order. Few can doubt Joshi’s skills and talent and he put on a sterling show. People watched in admiration as Joshi went about potting with ease. He stunned the spectators with an astonishing 557-break. A missed cue put the brakes on his fantastic run, which if extended, could have changed the course of the match.

Joshi’s late charge rattled Advani a little, but he was well on course to be really troubled. Joshi came up with additional breaks of 208 and 103, but it came a little too late in the day for the Mumbaikar.

Finals result: Pankaj Advani 2368(219, 327, 231, 274, 289, 253, 100) beat Devendra Joshi 2022 (338, 364, 557, 208, 103).