Advani and co. make India proud on I-Day!

It was a win-win situation for the Indian cue sport on the occasion of Independence Day as the Pankaj Advani-led India B secured a gold while India A bagged a silver in the inaugural World Billiards Team Championship in Glasgow on Friday.

- If there's anything to prove, it's to myself: Pankaj Advani

The winning team comprising Advani, Rupesh Shah, Devendra Joshi and Ashok Shandilya edged past the other national side (India A) 5-4 in an exciting final here last night.

In a first of its kind, the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) decided to conduct a World Team event right after the Commonwealth Games, to showcase the sport for a possible inclusion in the next edition of the quadrennial sporting event.

This win takes the world title tally of India's poster boy of cue sports, Advani, to an unprecedented 10.

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The Bengaluru ace has entered the record books yet again, this time it is for winning the highest number of world titles by any Indian in any sport, let alone cue sports.

When asked about this win, Advani said, "Winning a gold for India on Independence Day is a dream come true. We could not have asked for a better outcome as both teams confirmed gold and silver for our beautiful country."

On being the only Indian sportsperson to have ever reached a double figure in the world title tally, Advani said, "Ten is a number beyond my wildest imagination! This one is special for a couple of reasons. One, of course is because it's the 10th, and two, it's my first team world title and playing with fellow Indians is a special feeling.”

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"Rupesh, Ashok, Joshi and I bonded well and believed we had what it took to to make the final as interesting as it could possibly get. Congratulations to all the Indian cueists for having a fantastic outing in this championship."

The title clash was a thrilling contest that went down to the wire. It was a best-of-nine showdown with three rounds of 60-minute matches to be played by three players at a time.

India A comprising Alok Kumar, B Bhaskar, Sourav Kothari and Dhruv Sitwala, took the initial lead of 2-1 in the first of three rounds.