Advani advances

Pankaj Advani showed why he has been touted as the teen sensation in cuesports. He took his appointed place in the final of the fourth Asian...

Pankaj Advani showed why he has been touted as the teen sensation in cuesports. He took his appointed place in the final of the fourth Asian Billiards Championship on Friday even as the other Indian prospect8212;Ashok Shandilya8212; succumbed to Thailand8217;s Chaithanasakun Praput in the other semifinal.

While Advani ended Myanmar8217;s brilliant run here, winning 4-1 over Kyaw Oo, Shandilya paid for his mistakes against dangerous floater Praput who went from strength to strength to emerge victorious 4-2 this time.

8216;8216;I had nothing to loose and everything to gain today. Having lost to Ashok in all the five times previously, I was under no pressure and took it game by game,8217;8217; said Praput after his victory.

For one who has achieved a rare double of being a World and Asian champion in 2003, Shandilya has never lived up to his potential. And three-time world champion Michael Ferreira concurred. 8216;8216;If he played consistently to what he can, he would have reached a level near Geet Sethi.8217;8217;

But all that was immaterial as Shandilya simply did not have the mind and heart to focus on his game. 8216;8216;I had a none too good championship so far and wanted to do too many things all together. Nothing worked,8217;8217; confessed Shandilya.

Advani, on the other hand, showed why he is so mature for his 19 years. When complimented for his easy win, Advani said: 8216;8216;It may look easy if you view it in the context of yesterday8217;s tough match against Devendra Joshi. The balls rolled in my favour today but I still had to draw on all my resources to win the fifth game.8217;8217;

Kyaw had taken the fourth frame with an unfinished break of 99. The bronze medallist in the last version in 2003 at Myanmar had beaten Advani in the last two encounters that they met in the past. But Advani ensured there were no more hiccups as he reeled out breaks of 100 and 97 in the second and the fifth with perfection.

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Semifinal results breaks in bracket: Pankaj Advani India bt Kyaw Oo Myanmar 4-1 :-10052, 44 unf-71, 100100 unf-0, 10172 unf-33, 22-10199, 10197 unf-0; C. Praput Thailand bt Ashok Shandilya India 4-2 :- 90-10171, 10171-80, 101-63, 23-100, 101-7, 100100 unf-22.