Pankaj Advani advances to Asian Billiards final

Two former world champions, Pankaj Advani and Praput Chaithanasukan from Thailand, in a classic display of billiards had the packed audience on their toes at the Clube Tennis De Gaspar Dias Miramar where the Indian managed to outwit Praput by 5 games to 4 in the second semi-final of the 11th ONGC Asian Billiards Championship on Saturday.

Right from the outset, the match which was billed as the clash of titans, was a sheer toss up between the two highly skilled cueists.

Pankaj was the first to gain the required high level of concentration while chalking up an unfinished break of 102 to take the first game.

Praput exhibiting matching skill and temperament rallied superbly to take the second and third in which he piled up an unfinished 99 break for an early 2-1 lead.

Not to be outdone, Pankaj bounced back with an unfinished 100 break leaving Praput stranded without scoring.

Continuing his fine form, Pankaj was once again a picture of poise and determination as he uncorked 97 in the process of taking the fifth game to nose ahead 3-2.

At this stage, people could be forgiven for thinking that Pankaj would now run away with the match, but the Thai player was not finished yet.

Playing in his usual care-free manner, Praput struck once again to notch up an unfinished 102 restoring parity at 3-all.

The crucial seventh game was the most pulsating one as Pankaj began piling point over point after having traded a couple of safety exchanges with his rival in a patient methodical and calculated manner to reach 96 points, but just when he needed only four points to close the game, he went out of position.

Having a difficult choice of going for a wild attempt or to play safe, he pondered and paused before choosing to opt for the second alternative, putting the balls in relatively safe position.

But Praput then exhibited unmatched craft for an unfinished break of 101 to gain a vital 4-3 lead. Pankaj, though, immediately hit back to bring the match back to level terms.

In the ninth and deciding game, which was full of tension, Pankaj scored a useful 71 break in reply to the 46 points gathered by Praput at the given stage.

Subsequently, playing with utmost care and caution, Pankaj finally closed shop with a well executed cannon when just requiring one scoring stroke to win.

However, Thailand had the satisfaction of winning the other semi-final match when Thawat Sujaritthuarkarn white-washed the challenge of other Indian, Devendra Joshi 5 games to nil.

Thawat has been one of the most consistent and steady performers on view in this championship and it would be absolutely unwise to right-off this dodgy exponent of the three ball game when he faces Pankaj in the Billiards final. One can safely predict a high class contest between the two cueists on Easter day on Sunday.