Advani launches title defence in style

Pankaj Advani has launched his title defence with two emphatic victories on the opening day of the IBSF World Billiards Championships at Singapore.

Advani scored identical 3-0 wins against Larry Drennan of Ireland and Paul Wereta of New Zealand in 150-up point format on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Indian, who is playing in Group A, won the point as well as the time format titles in 2005 to become only the second cueist in the world to win both world billiards and snooker titles.

The championship could not be staged last year due to lack of sponsorships.

Former champion Geet Sethi thrashed his opponents Kyaw Oo of Myanmar and Pakistani youngster Imran Shahzad without conceding a frame. He won 3-0 against both his Group D opponents and also notched up breaks of 151 and 140 against Shazad and Oo respectively.

Among the other Indians in the fray, Dhruv Sitwala, although lost his Group B match to local hope Peter Gilchrist 1-3, carved out impressive 3-1 wins each against Mathew David Sutton of England and Udon Kaimuk of Thailand.

Doha billiards gold medal winner Ashok Shandilya also maintained his clean slate by winning both his matches on the first day of the event. He defeated Glenn Yeo Teck Shin of Singapore 3-1 and managed a 3-2 win against Thanh Binh Nguyen of Vietnam in Group C.

Former national champion Rupesh Shah, playing in Group G, lost 2-3 against Moh Loon hong of Malaysia but scored a 3-0 win over Kiwi Gary Oliver.