<p>Sourav Kothari ended eight years of pain and frustration, exacting revenge on rival Pankaj Advani to storm into the semifinals of the IBSF World Billiards Championship (long-up format) here on Wednesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Determined to make up for the bitter quarterfinal loss he suffered against the 15-time world champion at the very same KSBA hall in 2008, a rejuvenated Kothari played perhaps the game of his life to post a resounding 1000-644 victory and set up a semifinal against the young Dhvaj Haria, who beat Aung Htay 1001-677.<br /><br />“You have to always play the game of your life to beat someone like Pankaj,” a relieved Kothari said. “I still remember the 2008 game where I was leading by over 300 points and started picturing the trophy. I missed a simple red pot and Pankaj made a sensational come back. I've been carrying that monkey on my back for a long time. It feels great to finally take it off. I owe this win to my father (Manoj) who not only taught me the game but helped me tide through that tough phase.”<br /><br />Advani, the defending points format champion who had looked in brilliant touch in the group stages where he posted four smooth wins and vanquished veteran Alok Kumar 750-547 in the pre-quarterfinals earlier in the day, seemed in a mood against Kothari. <br /><br />Well aware of how dangerous Kothari can be having waged many a battle with him since his junior days, Advani set the pace to the tricky affair with breaks of 66 and 172 points in just his second and third visits respectively.<br /><br />Second wind<br />Leading 240-3 it looked like Advani, playing some free-flowing billiards, was headed for an early dinner. Kothari, enjoying a second wind in his career having won the Asian Billiards title in 2014 and the Arjuna award this year, got his chance and the 32-year-old posted a break of 198 points to equal the scores at 256-256 and show that’s he not going to be a pushover.<br /><br />A cat and mouse game ensued thereafter as both Advani and Kothari took time to size up their chances. Advani, however, always stayed a step ahead of his rival with visits of 68, 5 and 28. Kothari then knew he really had to come up with something big if he wished to turn the tide.<br /><br />He blasted a break of 181 points to surpass Advani for the first time in the match but surrendered the table back while leading 573-463. Advani conjured a break of 65 to narrow the margin but then started making too many unforced errors. Kothari then hammered a break of 293 points but it looked like history could repeat itself as he missed a simple red pot with the tape in sight.<br /><br />Not the one to give up without a fight, Advani looked like staging an improbable comeback yet again but missed a regulation red pot while on a 100-point break. Kothari then finished the job off with an unfinished break of 51 points.<br /><br />Meanwhile, defending champion Peter Gilchrist marched into the semifinals with a crushing 1000-347 win over Robert Hall. The Singaporean will take on Rupesh Shah, who downed 16-year-old Suryanarayanan Shrikrishna 1002-646.<br /><br />Results: Quarterfinals: Sourav Kothari (Ind) bt Pankaj Advani (Ind) 1000 (55, 198, 68, 181, 293, 51 unf) - 644 (66, 172, 96, 68, 65, 100); Dhvaj Haria (Ind) bt Aung Htay (Mmr) 1001 (81, 68, 133, 121, 157, 87) - 677 (61, 80, 88, 69, 85, 73); Peter Gilchrist (Sing) bt Robert Hall (Eng) 1000 (164, 83, 93, 144, 138, 87, 97, 100) - 347 (91, 131); Rupesh Shah (Ind) bt Suryanarayanan Shrikrishna (Ind) 1002 (118, 91, 216, 74, 68) - 646 (85, 110, 72, 50).<br /><br />Pre-quarterfinals: P Advani bt Alok Kumar (Ind) 750 (130, 157, 86, 50) - 547 (99, 69, 69, 99); S Kothari bt Jaiveer Dhingra (Ind) 750 (208, 133) - 432 (66, 89); A Htay bt Chit Ko Ko (Mmr) 750 (72, 87, 59, 56, 70, 114, 60) - 697 (104, 63, 100, 55); D Haria bt Shankar Rao (Ind) 750 (86, 104, 107, 131, 79) - 381 (64); S Shrikrishna bt B Bhaskar (Ind) 750 (81, 83, 51, 122, 90, 50) - 721 (57, 58, 325, 50, 57); R Shah bt Siddharth Parikh (Ind) 750 (56, 200, 101, 113, 89) - 470 (143); P Gilchrist bt Soheil Vahedi (Irn) 750 (86, 157, 212, 56) - 299 (87, 67); R Hall bt Dhruv Sitwala (Ind) 752 (73, 60, 64, 83, 119, 108, 91) - 632 (62, 79, 230, 69). <br /><br />Semifinal line-up: S Kothari vs D Haria; P Gilchrist vs R Shah.</p>
<p>Sourav Kothari ended eight years of pain and frustration, exacting revenge on rival Pankaj Advani to storm into the semifinals of the IBSF World Billiards Championship (long-up format) here on Wednesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Determined to make up for the bitter quarterfinal loss he suffered against the 15-time world champion at the very same KSBA hall in 2008, a rejuvenated Kothari played perhaps the game of his life to post a resounding 1000-644 victory and set up a semifinal against the young Dhvaj Haria, who beat Aung Htay 1001-677.<br /><br />“You have to always play the game of your life to beat someone like Pankaj,” a relieved Kothari said. “I still remember the 2008 game where I was leading by over 300 points and started picturing the trophy. I missed a simple red pot and Pankaj made a sensational come back. I've been carrying that monkey on my back for a long time. It feels great to finally take it off. I owe this win to my father (Manoj) who not only taught me the game but helped me tide through that tough phase.”<br /><br />Advani, the defending points format champion who had looked in brilliant touch in the group stages where he posted four smooth wins and vanquished veteran Alok Kumar 750-547 in the pre-quarterfinals earlier in the day, seemed in a mood against Kothari. <br /><br />Well aware of how dangerous Kothari can be having waged many a battle with him since his junior days, Advani set the pace to the tricky affair with breaks of 66 and 172 points in just his second and third visits respectively.<br /><br />Second wind<br />Leading 240-3 it looked like Advani, playing some free-flowing billiards, was headed for an early dinner. Kothari, enjoying a second wind in his career having won the Asian Billiards title in 2014 and the Arjuna award this year, got his chance and the 32-year-old posted a break of 198 points to equal the scores at 256-256 and show that’s he not going to be a pushover.<br /><br />A cat and mouse game ensued thereafter as both Advani and Kothari took time to size up their chances. Advani, however, always stayed a step ahead of his rival with visits of 68, 5 and 28. Kothari then knew he really had to come up with something big if he wished to turn the tide.<br /><br />He blasted a break of 181 points to surpass Advani for the first time in the match but surrendered the table back while leading 573-463. Advani conjured a break of 65 to narrow the margin but then started making too many unforced errors. Kothari then hammered a break of 293 points but it looked like history could repeat itself as he missed a simple red pot with the tape in sight.<br /><br />Not the one to give up without a fight, Advani looked like staging an improbable comeback yet again but missed a regulation red pot while on a 100-point break. Kothari then finished the job off with an unfinished break of 51 points.<br /><br />Meanwhile, defending champion Peter Gilchrist marched into the semifinals with a crushing 1000-347 win over Robert Hall. The Singaporean will take on Rupesh Shah, who downed 16-year-old Suryanarayanan Shrikrishna 1002-646.<br /><br />Results: Quarterfinals: Sourav Kothari (Ind) bt Pankaj Advani (Ind) 1000 (55, 198, 68, 181, 293, 51 unf) - 644 (66, 172, 96, 68, 65, 100); Dhvaj Haria (Ind) bt Aung Htay (Mmr) 1001 (81, 68, 133, 121, 157, 87) - 677 (61, 80, 88, 69, 85, 73); Peter Gilchrist (Sing) bt Robert Hall (Eng) 1000 (164, 83, 93, 144, 138, 87, 97, 100) - 347 (91, 131); Rupesh Shah (Ind) bt Suryanarayanan Shrikrishna (Ind) 1002 (118, 91, 216, 74, 68) - 646 (85, 110, 72, 50).<br /><br />Pre-quarterfinals: P Advani bt Alok Kumar (Ind) 750 (130, 157, 86, 50) - 547 (99, 69, 69, 99); S Kothari bt Jaiveer Dhingra (Ind) 750 (208, 133) - 432 (66, 89); A Htay bt Chit Ko Ko (Mmr) 750 (72, 87, 59, 56, 70, 114, 60) - 697 (104, 63, 100, 55); D Haria bt Shankar Rao (Ind) 750 (86, 104, 107, 131, 79) - 381 (64); S Shrikrishna bt B Bhaskar (Ind) 750 (81, 83, 51, 122, 90, 50) - 721 (57, 58, 325, 50, 57); R Shah bt Siddharth Parikh (Ind) 750 (56, 200, 101, 113, 89) - 470 (143); P Gilchrist bt Soheil Vahedi (Irn) 750 (86, 157, 212, 56) - 299 (87, 67); R Hall bt Dhruv Sitwala (Ind) 752 (73, 60, 64, 83, 119, 108, 91) - 632 (62, 79, 230, 69). <br /><br />Semifinal line-up: S Kothari vs D Haria; P Gilchrist vs R Shah.</p>
