Earlier, Pankaj Advani shook off a stiff challenge from Geet Sethi with a calm 4-3 win in an epic quarter final encounter.
Indore: In a repeat of last year’s final, Peter Gilchrist of Singapore will take on Pankaj Advani in the finals of Asian Billiards Champion being held in Mumbai. Earlier, Pankaj Advani shook off a stiff challenge from Geet Sethi with a calm 4-3 win in an epic quarter final encounter.
Sethi showed confidence at the start when he grabbed the initial two games. In the third set of the best-of-seven frames match, Advani created a splendid 104 unfinished break that narrowed the lead to 1-2.
But Sethi was in no mood to give way and won the next frame 101-45. Just when it looked like Sethi was at the brink of winning the match, Advani came back with a smashing 100-57 and leveled the scores. He followed it up with a 100-44, 102(55)-71 win in the next two frames.
In another quarterfinal, Rupesh Shah posed a great threat to last year’s finalist Peter Gilchrist. Trailing 1-3 at one stage, Shah made it three-all.
In the decider, Shah fell apart. Gilchrist wasted no time in capitalising on Shah’s mistake and scored a break of 94 to win the match 4-3.
The semifinals seemed just a formality for Gilchrist and Advani who got past their opponents with consistent performance. Advani beat Yaw Oo of Myanmar 5-3 while Gilchrist outclassed Praput Chaithanasakun of Thailand 5-4.
Semifinals: Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Yaw Oo (Myanmar) 5-2; Peter Gilchrist (Sing) bt Praput Chaithanasakun (Thai) 5-4; Quarterfinals: Peter Gilchrist (Sing) bt Rupesh Shah (Ind) 4-3; Praput Chaithanasakun (Thai) bt Thawat Sujaritthurakarn (Thai) 4-3; Kyaw Oo (Myan) bt Ashok Shandilya (Ind) 4-0; Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Geet Sethi (Ind) 4-3.
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