Indian cueists advance in World Billiards Championship

Bangalore, Sep 1 (UNI) Indian Cueists had smooth sailing in their first matches in the league (Points Format) of the ONGC IBSF World Billiards Championship, which began at the Karnataka State Billiards Association here today.

While defending champion Rupesh Shah trounced Sabdeen Mohammed of Sri Lanka 3-0, former Asian Champion Devender Joshi defeated his country-mate Dronacharya awardee Arvind Savur 3-0, World Billiards and Snooker Champion Pankaj Advani had a cake walk against Calum Hossack of Scotland 3-0. However, Sourav Kothari had to sweat it out to defeat Thanh Binh Nguyen of Vietnam 4-1, after conceding the third frame (80-150).

Twice world Champion (Time Format) Pankaj did not provide an opportunity to Scotland cueist to recover, as he finished 150-05, 150-0 and 151-17. The 23-year-old Bangalorean took just 45 minutes to finish the game.

Among foreign players, Praprut Chaithanasakun of Thailand had a easy win over Darren Taylor of New Zealand 3-0, Sri Lankan Cueist Mohammed Aslam defeated debutant Michael Wright of Europe Billiards Open Series (EBOS), Suriya Suwannasingh of Thailand defeated Gary Oliver of New Zealand 4-1 after going down in the third frame (96-150).

Results: (All Indians unless mentioned) Group 'A': Rupesh Shah bt Subdeen Mohamed (Sri Lanka) 151-53, 151-35, 150-21; Devender Joshi bt Arvind Savoor 151-37, 150-98, 151-29; Group 'B': Pankaj Advani bt Calum Hossack (Scotland) 151-05, 150-00, 151-17; Suriya Suwannasingh (Thailand) bt Gary Oliver (New Zealand) 150-49, 150-146, 96-150, 150-91; Group 'C': Prapat Chaithanasakun (Thailand) bt Darren Taylor (New Zealand) 151-27, 151-39, 150-24; Sourav Kothari bt Thanh Binh Nguyen 150-68, 150-87, 80-150, 150-107.

Group 'D': Geet Sethi bt Teik Chong Alan Puan (Singapore) 150-66, 151-93, 153-0; Mohammed Aslam (Sri Lanka) bt Michael Wright (EBOS) 150-94, 150-138, 151-139.

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