In-form Advani starts his campaign with easy win

Eighteen-Year-Old Pankaj Advani sounded a stern warning to his rivals in the World Billiards Championship here with a 150-53, 152-69, 151-56...

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Eighteen-Year-Old Pankaj Advani sounded a stern warning to his rivals in the World Billiards Championship here with a 150-53, 152-69, 151-56 win over John Hartley of England in the opening match on Monday.

Thanks to breaks of 90 and 75 in the second and third frames, respectively, Advani cruised through. He was in a cracking form in the first frame and maintained the lead throughout. He stuck to top table play and with diligent potting and canons, got the first frame at 150-53.

Advani was in a spot of bother in the second and third frames. Hartley, on the other hand, took the chance and looked promising but only till Advani worked his magic. Erratic play from Hartley — the Englishman missed the object balls on a couple of instances — saw Advani hang on and add small and steady breaks.

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The in-form Advani gave no chance to his Group E opponent winning the best of five tie in straight frames.

The Bangalore-based cueist started in style with an opening break of 41 but could not cash in on it in his subsequent visits, while his English opponent too was a bit shaky on the baize in the first frame.

Coming to his true elements after a while, Advani notched up a major unfinished break of 77 to win the first frame in the 150 up format, which was employed for the first time in the flag-ship event with a view to give equal opportunity to underdogs and also generate public interest in the game.

The 18-year-old then took full control of the tie recording breaks of 97 and 77 unfinished in the second and third frames respectively to finish any chance of a fightback by the Englishman.

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Andhra chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, who inaugurated the event, felicitated several Indians on the occasion.

They included Michael Ferreira, Geet Sethi, former world champion Manoj Kothari, double Asian Games gold medallist Ashok Shandilya, world snooker champion Pankaj Advani, two-time former National ladies billiards champion Kamala Devi, former AP State billiards champion D Subba Rao and former National champion N Subba Rao.

The league matches start from Tuesday morning.