Pankaj Advani, the top cueist in India, defeated fellow countryman Sourav Kothari 4-0 in the final of the 150-up billiards event at the Global Championships on Saturday to win his 25th world championship.
Pankaj Advani wins his 25th world championship in Kuala Lumpur
The several onlookers were captivated as Advani moved his cue about like a magician’s wand. Advani made it apparent from the first frame that he intended to claim the championship as his own. Immediately after the match began, he won the opening frame with a 149 break while his opponent, who is still vying for his first IBSF World title, was yet to register a point in the 150-up format.
In the best-of-seven summit match, Advani put in a valiant effort to secure a record-breaking fifth consecutive year in which he achieved the billiards equivalent of the National-Asian-World golden trifecta.
Kothari’s inability to take advantage of the few opportunities that his deserving opponent gave him in the second frame resulted to Advani winning. Assisted by a 77 break, Advani had a 2-0 lead and was halfway home. The Malaysian crowd was captivated by Advani’s skillful billiards as he ramped up the heat from that point on.
With his skill, Advani made the third frame’s highest break of the competition, a 153, putting himself one frame away from his usual success. Advani strung up magnificent breaks of 86 and 60 unfinished in the fourth set to put the icing on the cake and secure the win, demonstrating once more why he is the man to beat in the 3-ball game. In a lacklustre final, Kothari earned a total of 72 points, while Advani accumulated almost 600 points to successfully defend his championship for the sixth consecutive year. The event was last held in 2019 and was resurrected in 2019 due to the epidemic.
