Pankaj Advani beats Brijesh Damani to retain Asian Billiards title

India's Pankaj Advani retained his Asian Billiards title in the 100-up format, defeating fellow countryman Brijesh Damani 5-1 in the final played at Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Academy in Doha on Sunday, March 19. Advani, who is a 25-time International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) world champion, defeated Damani with a scoreline of 100(51)-18, 100(88)-9, 86(54)-101(75), 100-26, 100(66)-2, 101(64)-59 in the final.

In the women's section, China's Bai Yulu won the title beating Panchaya Channoi of Thailand 3-0 in the final. This is the eighth Asian Billiards title in all for Advani, the Indian cue sports ace who has been bestowed the Arjuna Award in 2004, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2006, Padma Shri in 2009 and Padma Bhushan in 2018. Advani had won the same title last year at Doha.

Advani, who had lost to Damani in the group stage earlier in the championship, was in great form on Sunday and won the first two games with ease. Advani, who reached the final by beating Pauk Sa of Myanmar 5-1 in the semifinals, scored half-century breaks in each of the six frames including a century break in the fourth.

However, Damani, who got the better of compatriot Shrikrishna Suryanarayanan 5-4 in the last-four stage, also scored a break of 75 in the third frame but eventually had to settle for silver losing 1-5. The 37-year-old Advani from Bengaluru has won the billiards world titles 17 times, the IBSF World Billiards Championship on 16 occasions and the World Team Billiards Championship once.

Advani has won gold medals in English Billiards singles in the 2006 and 2010 Asian Games.