Title contender Pankaj Advani won the clash of bigwigs as he tamed Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 4-1 to enter the semi-finals of the points format competition in the ONGC IBSF World Billiards Championship in Bangalore on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old local lad beat the Singapore national coach 151-54, 150-141, 36-151, 150-5, 150-61 in a quarter-final match at the Karnataka State Billiards Association hall here.
Gilchrist played well in the second and third frames but Advani came back strongly in the later stages to notch up a deserving win.
He was joined in the last four by defending champion (points format) Rupesh Shah, Geet Sethi and Devendra Joshi.
In the other quarter-finals, Shah came from behind to beat Dhruv Sitwala (India) 4-1 (113-150, 152-32, 150-142, 150-44, 151-74); veteran Sethi ousted compatriot Alok Kumar 4-2 (151-21, 150-7, 151-2, 68-150, 5-150, 121-5) (match conceded), while Joshi eliminated Praprut Chaithanasakun (Thailand) 4-2 (150-89, 0-150, 138-151, 150-8, 150-70, 150-0).
In the all-Indian semi-finals to be played on Thursday, Sethi takes on Joshi while Advani meets Shah.