India score in friendly clash

The friendly tie was played in the 100-up format on the sidelines of the IBSF World Billiards Championship at the PYC Hindu Gymkahana.

Indian team had Geet, Pankaj Advani, Devendra Joshi and Ashok Shandilya while the Rest of the World team was represented by Mike Russell (England), Peter Gilchrist (Singapore), Praput Chaithanasakun (Thailand) and Kyaw Oo (Myanmar).

The first game saw newly crowned IBSF Point-format champion Russell thrashing Advani with a clearance of 101-02. Russell had defeated Advani in the final of the point-format on Monday.

In the second game, Sethi made Gilchrist a mere spectator as on his very first shot, eight-time world champion Indian smashed a break of 101 to level the series. The third game was doubles, which was played between Devendra/Shandilya from India and Praput/Kyaw Oo from ROW.

This was played on an alternate shot basis between team mates.

Devendra fumbles

Devendra missed a run-through in-off chance which allowed team Rest of the World to score a win and lead the proceedings 2-1.

The fourth game was between arch rivals Sethi and Russell. The Indian played fantastic game in the entertaining atmosphere but fumbled at a score of 71.

Russell without wasting the chance started scoring and was looking to hand over a sure defeat to the Indian camp, when on a score of 64 he tried to hit a thick red pot to get on perfect position but stuck on the jaw and Sethi cleared the game by scoring the remaining 29 points.

With the match poised even, Advani took on Gilchrist. This time again Singaporean was reduced from a serious bench tactician to a mere spectator by the Bangalore-boy as he smashed a flawless break of 100 to clinch the issue. India lifted the prestigious ‘Manisha Cup’ and a prize money of Rs 1,00,000 offered by Rajan Khinvsara, the Vice President of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India.