Sourav Kothari beats Pankaj Advani for senior billiards title
2 min read
By Narendra Bhale
Indore – Arjuna awardee and world champion Sourav Kothari has won the senior billiards title at the 91st National Billiards and Snooker Championship, defeating 28-time world champion Pankaj Advani in the final. The championship is being held at the Yashwant Club in Indore.
In the six-frame final, Kothari, currently ranked second in the world, won 150-31, 30-154, 9-151, 150-25, 150-90, and 152-147. Advani fought till the end but lost the sixth frame by a narrow margin.
Both players, from the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), are cue sports legends and did not give an inch to each other. Kothari made a break of 106 points to win the first frame, while Advani made breaks of 130 and 94 points to win the next two frames.
However, Kothari won the next three frames to clinch the title, although Advani put up a tough fight in the sixth frame, making a break of 99 points but losing by just five points.
Brajesh Damani of PSPB won the third place by defeating Ryan Rajmi of Maharashtra 3-1.
The successful players were felicitated by MP Shri Shankar Lalwani, Maharani Preeti Devi of Nabha royal family, Chairman of MP Billiards-Snooker Association Shri Bholu Mehta, Secretary of Billiards and Snooker Association of India Shri Sunil Bajaj, Vice President Smt. Ashwini Puranik, Secretary-General of All India Tennis Association Shri Anil Dhupar, Secretary of Yashwant Club Sanjay Goraniya, and Animesh Soni.
MP’s Uzer, Ansh, Udit Win in Senior Six Red Snooker Qualifying Round
In the qualifying round matches of the senior six red snooker event, MP’s Uzer Khan defeated Chandan Gulati of Chandigarh 4-1, Abhishek Ahuja of Delhi defeated Kamal M of Punjab 4-0, Peter Paul of Railways defeated Harshit Sharma of MP 4-0, Ansh Ahuja of MP defeated Rahul Mundada 4-0, Kamlesh Patel of Gujarat defeated Rajesh Thakur of Himachal Pradesh 4-2, Shoaib Khan of Railways defeated Subhash B of Rajasthan 4-0, Suraj Rathi of Maharashtra defeated Vikas Singh of UP 4-0, Udit Rai of MP defeated Nitish Tyagi of Delhi 4-3, and J Navin Kumar of Tamil Nadu defeated Abhishek Randhe of Maharashtra 4-1 to advance to the next round.
