Bhaskar makes a statement

Veteran joins Advani, Gilchrist in knock-outs

Favourites Peter Gilchrist and Pankaj Advani warmed up for the knock-outs in fine style while determined trier B Bhaskar made a silent statement of his own in the IBSF World Billiards Championship (points format) here on Saturday.

Singaporean Gilchrist, who regained the long-up format title on Thursday in domineering fashion, swatted aside easy meat Akhilesh Mohan of France 3-0 before exacting revenge on Siddharth Parikh — the only cueist who has beaten him in the competition so far — 3-1 to wrap up his Group C engagements on an unbeaten (five wins) note at the KSBA hall.

Advani, the 15-time world champion who suffered a shock quarterfinal loss in the long-up format, was given a solid workout by the seasoned Alok Kumar but the Bengalurean was up to the challenge, grinding out a 3-2 win. He then hammered Myanmar’s Chit Ko Ko (3-1) and Iranian Sasan Lashkari 3-0 to sign off Group A unbeaten.

The 45-year-old Bhaskar, who has been on the circuit for two decades but yet to win a title of note despite having all the skills, tuned his engines for the tougher rides starting on Sunday with wins over Englishman Nalin Patel (3-1) and Myanmar danger man Aung Htay (3-2). Bhaskar too posted five wins from as many matches in Group C that left him with a good draw.

What should give Bhaskar plenty of confidence is the way he outlasted 50-year-old Htay, who dismissed Mohamed Aslam in 45 minutes on Friday and appears as a genuine dark horse. Going through his shots in his usual breakneck speed, Htay sealed the opening frame with break of 55 and 95.

Bhaskar, a slow starter, could have easily being 2-0 down had Htay not missed a simple red pot while leading 52-19. Bhaskar then cracked a break of 108 points but he too missed a regulation red pot at 127-58. The mistake didn't cost him much and he was back on level terms with Htay.

Bhaskar then put himself within one frame of winning the tussle following breaks of 88 and 58 in the third frame. Thereafter some silly errors started to flow from his cue and Htay, not the one to let a chance fly past, hammered an unfinished break of 141 points to push the contest into a decider.

Bhaskar, with a reputation to crumble under pressure, had a scrap at his hands and he stood up to it bravely, smashing an unfinished break of 151 points to draw applause from the small weekend crowd.

Advani, meanwhile, was given a good wake-up call by nemesis Alok in the morning match as the seasoned campaigner won the first frame with a break of 134. Advani hit back with a break of 92 in the second and then scored 114 to take the third.

Alok then rallied with a break of 105 but Advani showed his class in the deciding fifth, posting a break of 115. The 31-year-old then hardly broke a sweat in his remaining two contests of the day.
DH News Service