Rampant Advani crushes Bhaskar

Neck and neck till almost the halfway stage of the title clash against B Bhaskar, the seven-time world champion provided another example of why he is considered one of the finest exponents of the three-ball game, crushing his Karnataka State-mate 1001-443 in a little over 2-1/2 hours at the ECA Club.

Fresh from his tenth successive title triumph in the State-ranking billiards tournament a fortnight back, Bhaskar gave Advani a strong fight initially. While he stayed in the title hunt with breaks of 138 and 167, Advani kept himself going with breaks of 259 and 110 before exploding in stunning fashion.

Oozing confidence and class, the 25-year old reigning National snooker champion unleashed the tournament’s highest break -- a whopping 507 -- to take the game completely away from his opponent.

In the semifinals earlier in the day, Advani defeated veteran Devendra Joshi 1000-683 while Bhaskar eased past Dhruv Sitwala 1000-615.

Results: Final: Pankaj Advani: 1001 (507, 259, 110) bt B Bhaskar: 443 (143, 88, 99).
Semifinals: P Advani: 1000 (260, 250, 86, 72, 63) bt Devendra Joshi: 683 (167, 107, 104); B Bhaskar: 1000 (138, 167, 81, 75, 191 (unf)) bt Dhruv Sitwala: 615 (126, 114, 100).