Indian Cue Masters League: Bengaluru Buddies Beat Pankaj Advani-Led Chennai Strikers

Ahmedabad: Bengaluru Buddies came from behind to beat Chennai Strikers in the Indian Cue Masters League on Monday. The Strikers were sitting pretty at 2-1, after Bengaluru-based Vidya Pillai notched up two points for her team, pairing up first with Pankaj Advani to win the Mixed Doubles Snooker match and then with Pandurangaiah from Nellore to win the Mixed Double Pool match as well. But in a dramatic Icon Match, Darren Morgan (Wales) stunned Advani literally with just a few seconds to go to make it 2-all. In the decider, the snooker singles shootout, Laxman Rawat cruised to a 42-0 victory against Dharmender Lilly (Punjab) to clinch the tie for the Buddies.

The Buddies got off to a winning start, with Sundeep Gulati (Delhi) trouncing veteran Lilly (Punjab) in straight frames in the 9-ball pool contest.

The mixed doubles encounter, thereafter, was a game of patience and nerves, with both teams opting to play safe. Advani and Pillai kept Morgan (Wales) and Anastasia Anachaeva (Russia) on their toes, running neck to neck till 9-9.

At that point, Morgan whipped out a perfect snook to create a nice opening for his partner. They notched up 10 points to win the frame 19-7.

The second frame too was all about skill and strategy. The score card moved slowly as both pairs had to be content with the reds. But Advani pulled off a brown to take a slender 10-8 lead. It was enough to fetch the Strikers the frame and take the game to the decider.

Advani and Pillai again jumped to a 9-1 lead to put pressure on the Bengaluru Buddies duo. They consolidated it to 18-2 to comfortably win the frame 22-5 and the crucial second point for their team.

Pandurangaih (Nellore) paired up with the in form Pillai to brush aside the Buddies' challenge (Gulati and Anastasia) in straight games to take a 2-1 lead for the Strikers.

In the highly anticipated Icon clash, Advani began by clearing out 5 reds and racking up 30 straight points to win the first frame 41-10. He fell behind in the second frame though as Morgan raced away to a 29-6 lead.

But with just two minutes left, Advani went on a rampage to narrow the lead down to 29-23. With just 15 seconds left, however, he missed the last last ball on the table to lose it in dramatic fashion.

In the decider too, Morgan jumped to a 15-9 lead. With just a little over two minutes left, Advani made it 18-15 but couldn't put away the pink. Morgan pounced on it to regain the led and win the frame and the point.