Advani mesmerises Agarwal

BANGALORE, FEBRUARY 7: Teenage sensation Pankaj Advani produced two hours of sensible, splendid and spell-binding billiards to stun veteran Subhash Agarwal by a 770-646 margin in a Pool E8217; encounter of the 66th Senior National Billiards championship at the KSBA Hall on Monday. Defending champion Alok Kumar, runner-up Devendra Joshi, strong contenders Ashok Shandilya and Balachandra Bhaskar all kept their campaign on track there was also a superb 196 break by Dhruv Sitwala, a 135 by Shandilya but the 14-year-old Pankaj Advani8217;s achievement of beating a seasoned campaigner more than three times his age put to shade the other results.

Realising the fame as well as the faculties of his reputed rival, the Frank Anthony Public School boy kept the scoreboard ticking with consistent breaks in the 40-range. There was a 84 on his 24th visit to the table, but it was his sure and steady breaks, however small, that helped him win the match.8220;I would love to lose to a talented youngster,8221; Agarwal had said before thematch. And an enormously talented youngster it was he lost to.

Results
Group A: KK Khanna Jamp;K bt Shahid Rizvi UP 366-290; Yasin Merchant Mah w/o Anil Sharma Har; Alok Kumar Pun bt KK Khanna Jamp;K 784-420.
Group B: Subash Sood Del bt Vishal Abrol Jamp;K 524-277; Devendra Joshi Mah bt IH Manudev Kar 913-440. Group C: Kamlesh Makhija Raj w/o N Subba Rao AP; Dharmendra Lilly Pun bt Lalit Har 675-314; Md.Asim w/o N Subba Rao AP. Group D: B Bhaskar Kar bt Aditya Goenka Raj 635-473; Rupesh Shah Guj bt Ram Gopal Sood HP 816-169; Aditya Goenka Raj bt SM Habibullah TN 606-265.
Group E: Pankaj Advani Kar bt Subash Agarwal Rlys 770-646; Devang Shah Mah w/o Aditya Dube MP. Prem Prakash TN w/o Aditya Dube MP. Group F: Dhruv Sitwala Mah bt Umesh Sood HP 782-214; Ashok Shandilya Rlys bt AR Azeem Ker 866-412; Shyam Jagtiani Rlys bt AR Azeem Ker 541-517.Group G: Varun Taneja Rlys bt A Haque Ori 515-456;Manoj Kothari WB w/o Achint Verma Pun; K Someswara Rao AP bt A Haque Ori 508-441. Group H: JS Dawar Mah bt Amit Sharma Del 512-388; ME Jokhi Guj bt S Sen Ori 705-312; JS Dawar Mah bt Shardanand Sinha Bih 637-356; Amit Sharma Del bt S Sen Ori 642-460.