Rupesh Shah caused a major upset at the World Billiards Championship when he defeated seven-time World champion and compatriot Geet Sethi in the 'Long up' format and advanced into the pre-quarters of the event, in Leeds, on Tuesday.
It was a case of so near yet so far for veteran Indian cueists Alok Kumar and Ashok Shandilya. Both fell just before the final hurdle in the World Billiards Championship in Leeds.
It was a win-win situation for the Indian cue sport on the occasion of Independence Day as the Pankaj Advani-led India B secured a gold while India A bagged a silver in the inaugural World Billiards Team Championship in Glasgow on Friday.
Defending champion Pankaj Advani and veteran Geet Sethi entered the semi-finals of the time format in the IBSF World Billiards Championship after contrasting victories in Pune on Thursday. Sethi defeated compatriot Ashok Shandilya by a huge margin of 1230 points, while Advani beat another Indian Rupesh Shah by 595 points after trailing nearly by 170 points, at the PYC Gymkhana Club.
Former Asian and National champion Ashok Shandilya of Railways failed to qualify for the Senior National Snooker Championship after losing 2-3 to Tamil Nadu's Nigel Lazar in Chennai on Thursday. Lazar, making a comeback to the National Championship after a gap of 14 years, entered the main draw after a 47-56, 62-51, 14-70, 74-42, 64-49 victory.
The 34-year-old Gujarat cueist beat countryman Ashok Shandilya by six frames to four in the final.
Pankaj Advani beat Ashok Shandilya in the billiards final as India won gold and silver from the event.
Geet Sethi and Devendra Joshi moved into the billiards final of the All India Open Invitation tournament in Mumbai
Pankaj Advani defeated Aditya Mehta 54-42, 107-0, 58-23, 84-1, 82-22, 49-65, 62-60 in the final on Monday.
Doha Asian Games silver medallist Ashok Shandilya recorded three century breaks -- while scoring beating Chetan Chabra of Haryana in the Senior National Billiards Championship.
Both scored fluent victories in the quarter-finals of the Shivaji Park Gymkhana Open billiards tournament.
Pankaj Advani and Geet Sethi will play in the seven-man Indian team for the Asian Billiards Championship.
The junior national billiards and snooker champion proved too good for the former world champ in the semi-finals of the Senior National billiards championship.
Geet Sethi and Ashok Shandilya won the bronze medal in the English billiards doubles event at the Asian Games, as India beat Pakistan 3-0.
Pankaj Advani beat Ashok Shandilya 76-101, 101-40, 100-0, 100-32 to win the billiards final at the Asian Games.
They scored easy victories over Ashik Shandilya and Devendra Joshi respectively in the semi-finals of the IBSF World Billiards Time Format Championship.
Geet Sethi, Devendra Joshi, Ashok Shandilya and Pankaj Advani stormed into the last four to create history.
Six of the seven members of the Indian team made it to the knock out stage of the time format event at the World Billiard championship.
The Indian national champion will meet C. Praput of Thailand in the title round of the Asian Billiards Championship.
They shocked Pankaj Advani and Ashok Shandilya respectively in the CCI snooker tournament.
A contribution of Rs 10,000 towards the former World billiards champion's medical expenses was also made.
Sarang Shroff and Rishabh Thukral respectively accounted for their scalps in the NSCI snooker tournament.
Led by Asian champion Pankaj Advani and former champion Geet Sethi all the Indians reached the last 16 stage in the IBSF World Billiards championship.
The seven-time World champion lost to Thailand's C Praput while defending champion Devendra Joshi was beaten by Pankaj Advani in the Asian Billiards Championship.
Ashok Shandilya got back his winning ways as he registered a comfortable win over his compatriot Sourav Kothari.
Ashok Shandilya of India suffered a shock defeat against Aung San Oo of Myanmar in a thrilling tie.
The three-time World champion beat Paul Bennett set up a meeting with Lee Lagan, who overcame Ashok Shandilya in the other semi-final in the World billiards championship.
The 18-year-old cueist put together two unfinished breaks of 150 as he rallied past the veteran cueist to make the knock-out round in the World billiards championship.
Alok Kumar stormed into the final of the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Leeds on Friday and set up a title clash with Englishman David Causier.
Pankaj Advani continued his surge in the World Billiards Championship (time format), making it to the semi-finals with a 916-665 victory over compatriot Rupesh Shah, in Leeds, on Tuesday, while Balachandra Bhaskar shocked Singapore's Peter Gilchrist.
Pankaj Advani lost his opening outing to defending champion Peter Gilchrist but later recovered and scored two straight victories in World Billiards Championship, in Leeds, on Tuesday.
India's poster boy of cue sports, Pankaj Advani, an eight-time world champion, had to miss the event due to his qualification for the 'International Championship', one of the most prestigious major ranking snooker events.
'By the time he gets done, he'll not only be the best player of his generation, but the best ever.' 'It'll take another 100 years for someone to break his records.'
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