Doha: India’s Pankaj Advani successfully defended his title against compatriot Brijesh Damani, while China’s Bai Yulu triumphed over Panchaya Channoi of Thailand as the QNB Asian Billiards Championship came to a close at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Academy in Doha on Sunday.
Advani, a 25-time International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) world champion, defeated Damani 5-1 (100(51)-18, 100(88)-9, 86(54)-101(75), 100-26, 100(66)-2, 101(64)-59) in the final, while Yulu edged Channoi 3-0 (89(34)-31, 59-51(36), 83(83)-0) to emerge champions of the four-day tournament that featured a total of 32 players from ten countries.
It was a sweet revenge for Advani, a.k.a. The Golden Boy, having lost to Damani in the group stage earlier in the championship.
With Sunday’s victory, the 37-year-old Advani has now won the Asian Billiards title for the ninth time in addition to being a two-time Asian Games gold medalist, having won in Doha in 2006 and in Guangzhou in 2010.
Advani, who won the first two games of the final match with ease, had defeated Dhruv Sitwala, his fellow countryman, to win his eighth title at the last edition, also in Doha.
En route to the triumph, Advani beat Pauk Sa of Myanmar 5-1 in the semifinals, scoring half-century breaks in each of the six frames, including a century break in the fourth. He had earlier edged out Thailand’s Praprut Chaithanasakun 5-1 in the quarterfinal stage.
The 37-year-old Advani from Bengaluru has won the billiards world titles 17 times, the IBSF World Billiards Championship on 16 occasions, and the World Team Billiards Championship once.
Meanwhile, teenage sensation Yulu, who set a record break at the Women’s World Snooker Championship three weeks ago after making a superb 127 in a win over India’s Amee Kamani, was in superb form as she eased to a comfortable win over Channoi in the best of five-frame match.
The 19-year-old, who has been touted as one of the brightest young talents in the sport for a few years now, had enjoyed a sensational run into the final, having knocked out Kamani 3-1 in the semifinals to make it two defeats in less than a month. She had earlier triumphed 2-0 against Hong Kong’s So Man Yan in the quarterfinals.
The Asian Billiards Championship follows the Asian Snooker Championship, also hosted by QBSF, which ended on March 16.
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