Alok -- the reigning National billiards, 8-ball and 9-ball pool champion -- first defeated defending champion and compatriot Pankaj Advani 4-3 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday before cruising past another former World champion Peter Gilchrist 5-2 (102 (67)-71(62 ), 101-87, 100(100)-0, 14- 102(77), 102(98)-34, 0- 101(83), 100(72)-13) on Wednesday.
In the final, the Guangzhou Asian Games 8-ball pool bronze medallist will lock horns with Thailand’s Praprut Chaithanasakun, who defeated Myanmar’s Kyaw Oo 5-4.
With a morale-boosting victory over Advani, Alok kick-started his semifinal against Singapore’s Gilchrist impressively, taking a 3-0 lead that included an unfinished 100-point break in the third. Although he lost the fourth and sixth frames, the all-rounder put himself one victory short of a maiden Asian Billiards title with a 72-point break in the seventh.
Earlier, two other Indians -- veteran Geet Sethi and Dhruv Sitwala -- bowed out in the quarterfinals after suffering contrasting losses. While Sethi went down fighting 3-4 to Praprut, Sitwala lost 2-4 to Gilchrist.
Result: Semifinals: Alok Kumar (Ind) bt Peter Gilchrist (Sin) 5-2 (102(67)-71(62 ), 101-87, 100(100)-0, 14- 102(77), 102(98)-34, 0- 101(83), 100(72)-13).
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