Advani, Sethi enter All India Open Billiards semifinals

Cue sport ace Pankaj Advani on Tuesday stormed into the semifinal of the All India Open Billiards Championship here.

The 23-time World billiards and snooker champion comfortably beat Akshay Kumar of Uttar Pradesh 1351-210 in the two-hour knockout tie.

The Bangalore cueist scored heavily in the match, thanks to breaks of 296, 199, 177 and 109. The highest break of the tournament so far of 369 remains with Advani.

In the other half of the draw, eight-time World billiards champion Geet Sethi of Gujarat scored a facile win over Nalin Patel.

While the event is an open billiards tournament, a prelude to the National Championships to be held early next year, the duo participated on invitation.

Others in the fray are other top Indian billiards stars and world medalists Dhruv Sitwala, Rupesh Shah, Dhvaj Haria and Alok Kumar.