Pankaj Advani is back, back to the place where he conquered the best in the business in the continent last December. Only this time, it is not the yellow metal that he is after, but the Asian title.
Advani, winner of the Asian Games billiards gold here six months ago, will be keen to lord over the rest once again when the Asian Billiards Championships gets under way on Saturday.
Though seeded second behind defending champion Aung Sun Oo of Myanmar, Advani is the odds-on favourite to walk away with the top honours next week. The 21-year-old Bangalore cueist, winner in 2005 in Pune, who had missed the previous edition in Iran because of exams, will be keen to make up for lost time.
Besides, the Indians' domination of the Asian event is a known fact. In the four editions so far, the Indian cueists have won thrice and Devendra Joshi, in Advani's absence last year in Teheran, failed to make it four out of four – losing to Sun Oo in the title clash.
But then, the mastery of the Indians has been unmatched by the rest in the continent. With Advani back in roaring form, it would hardly come as a surprise if the Indians dominate the show once again. A 1-2 like in the Asian Games is a possibility. Rupesh Shah is the other Indian in the fray here.
At the same time, it should not come as a surprise if a non-Indian is the last man standing in a week from now. In recent years, players from Myanmar and Thailand have been running the Indians close, thanks in the main to the format.
The points format – the 100-up – has blunted the Indians' formidable cue power. The Indians had found out the hard way in the 2002 Asian Games. But with normalcy being restored during the Asian Games here, Advani will be the man to beat.
The Bangalorean, the reigning World champion, topped the Indian selection trials with an awesome show last month. "There are five-six players who are capable of winning, and I'm one of them," Advani said on tournament eve.
"I wouldn't be surprised if both the Indians figure in the final," said Indian coach Manoj Kothari. "Peter Gilchrist will be the danger man."
There is possibility of the two Indians meeting in the quarterfinal stage itself. Though Advani shouldn't have any problems topping his group, Rupesh is clubbed with the dangerous Gilchrist in Group C.
In the re-seeding after the league phase, the runners-up in the four groups will be picked up draw of lots. So, Advani drawing Shah in the knockout quarterfinals cannot be ruled out. The top two in each group – four in all – make the knockout quarterfinals.  But Shah, despite losing to Advani in the selection camp, was in brilliant form himself. A fighter to the core, the Gujarat cueist will be keen to make his maiden appearance a memorable one.
Gilchrist, who took Singapore citizenship just before the Asian Games last year, was aware of the fact. "Having qualified ahead of players like Geet (Sethi) and Ashok (Shandilya), it shows the depth in Indian billiards," Gilchrist noted. "But I'm not counting myself out of the race though," he added quickly. The bronze medallist in the Asian Games, Gilchrist will be keen to make his debut show an eventful one indeed.
Besides the two Indians and Gilchrist, defending champion Sun Oo, Thailand's Udon Khaimuk and Vietnam's Nguyen T Long have the wherewithal to walk away with top honours. The Asian Under-21 snooker championships will also be held concurrently. Rishab Pandya, Shravan Mohata and Shivam Arora are the three Indians in the fray.

The groupings:
Group A: Aung Sun Oo (Myn), T Sujaritthurakarn (Thai), Park Sung Chil (Kor), Mohanna Al Obaidly (Qat), Hesham Poyanfar (Irn), Glen Tech Shin (Sing).
Group B: Nguyen T Long (Vie), Udon Khaimuk (Thai), Henry Boteju (SL), Khamis Al Obaidly (Qat), Mohd Yusuf (Pak), Ahmed Al Meer (Qat). Group C: Peter Gilchrist (Sing), Rupesh Shah (Ind), Bashar Hussain (Qat), Mehdi Rasekhi (Irn), Nay Thawy Oo (Myn), Nguyen T Binh (Vie).
Group D: Pankaj Advani (Ind), Aung Htay (Myn), Hwang Chul Ho (Kor), Abdulmohsen Khamis (Qat), Imran Shahzad (Pak), Khobala Sirisoma (SL).