Thaindian News

London, Sep 7 (IANS) India’s Pankaj Advani has won the world professional billiards title, stunning nine times champion Mike Russell 2030-1253 at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.
Advani, who also won the world amateur snooker championship in 2003 and two years later the world billiards title, Sunday became only the second Indian after Geet Sethi to win the World Professional Billiards title in its 139-year history.

Sethi, who won the world championship in 1992, crashed out of the tournament this time in a league match against eventual champion Advani 482-818.

It could well have been an all-India affair in the title match but Rupesh Shah squandered a first session lead to go down 880-1366 against Russell in the second semi-final.

But Russell found the going tough against young Advani.

It was Advani’s first world billiards title as a professional. He had already won the World Amateur billiards and snooker titles.

The Bangalore-based cueist has a plethora of records against his name.

He won his first world title in 2003 — the World Amateur Snooker Championship in China.

After winning the World Amateur Billiards Championship in 2005 at Qawra, Malta, he became only the second cueist after Malta’s Paul Mifsud to win both the amateur billiards and snooker world titles.

The 24-year-old is also the only player to have achieved a ‘grand double’ of winning both the points and timed formats at the World Amateur Billiards Championships. He first achieved the feat in 2005 and repeated it in the 2008 championships, in Bangalore. Advani also won the Asian Games gold medal at Doha in 2006.