Pankaj Advani continues his impressive run, advancing to the men's 9-ball pool title clash after a decisive semifinal victory and is set to face Nitin Sharma in what promises to be an exciting final.
Celebrated cueist Pankaj Advani continued his dream run in his maiden pool national championships, powering into the men's 9-ball pool title clash with an authoritative win in the semifinals, here on Monday.
The PSPB pro hardly put a foot wrong in his 11-5 demolition of Karnataka's Kushal Chandrashekar, who finished fifth in the previous edition three years ago.
In the final on Tuesday, the 40-year-old Advani will take on Chandigarh's Nitin Sharma, who edged out S Shrikrishna 11-10 in the other semifinal.
Known for his brilliant safety and surefire potting, Advani had his rival on a tight leash from the get-go. Capitalising on his opponent's largesse, he was off the blocks in a jiffy, jumping to a 4-0 lead in the race-to-11 clash.
A rare error from Advani gave Kushal a look-in in the fifth rack. The multiple-time world champion in snooker and billiards, snookered himself after taking 4 to the bottom right-hand pocket. Kushal then pulled one back.
Kushal rode his luck in the sixth rack following Advani's dry break. He made it a rack and run (read cleared the table) after a fluke double of 1 to the top right-hand pocket. He very nearly got another fluke in the seventh rack, but Advani, playing more like a seasoned pool professional, cleared the table to go up 5-2.
Advani showed his skill set by keeping the racks short, potting 9 off 2 in the 11th rack and 9 off 7 in the 12th. Kushal may have been a trifle off-colour on the day, but the green baize baron was on top of his game, wrapping up the match in double quick time.
In the other semifinal, locked 10-10, Nitin made it a start to finish affair with his break. After potting 1 and 3 with his break, the Chandigarh pro made it a break and run to set up a mouth-watering meeting with Advani.
Results: Men (semifinals): Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Kushal Chandrashekar (Kar) 11-5; Nitin Sharma (Chd) bt S Shrikrishna (PSPB) 11-10.