'Scrapping titles like WIM, WGM and a separate women's category will kill women's interest in chess.'
The Indian billiards fraternity on Monday showered rich praise on Pankaj Advani after he defeated defending champion and nine-time winner Mike Russell of Qatar in the final and claimed the World Professionals Billiards Championship.
Faced with a tough choice to decide between two top tournaments due to clash of dates, eight-time World champion Pankaj Advani is all set to skip the Asian Billiards Championship to take part in the World Championship Qualifiers, both scheduled in the first week of April.
Former champion Pankaj Advani and Devender Joshi entered the semi-finals in the 11th Asian Billiards Championship in Miramar, Goa, on Friday.
Reigning National billiards champion Alok Kumar stormed into the final of the Asian Billiards Championship, defeating Singapore's Peter Gilchrist, a former Asian and World champion, 5-2, at Kish Island, Iran.
Reigning world champion Rupesh Shah added another feather in his cap by clinching the 12th Asian Billiards championship with win over compatriot Alok Kumar in the fiercely fought final, in Indore on Sunday.
Indian players, including Pankaj Advani, Rupesh Shah and Geet Sethi scored easy victories during the opening day of the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Bangalore on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Six-time World champion Pankaj Advani defeated Thawat Sujaritthurakarn of Thailand to emerge victorious in the 11th ONGC Asian Billiards Championship on Sunday.
World Champion Pankaj Advani retained the national billiards title with a flawless show in the final, blanking Bhalchandra Bhaskar 5-0 at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Mumbai on Thursday.
India's cue sports champion Pankaj Advani is in seventh heaven after adding yet another world title to his kitty following his World Billiards Championship triumph in the 150-up points format.
The new World Snooker Champion is eager to convert his win into a grand double at the World Billiards Championships in Hyderabad next month.
He has achieved a legendary status after pocketing 15th world title and India's most celebrated cueist Pankaj Advani derives a lot of satisfaction from the fact that he has successfully managed the tough balancing act of playing snooker and billiards at such a high level.
The semi-finals of the ONGC-IBSF World Billiards (Time Format) championship will be an all-Indian affair, after defending champion Pankaj Advani, eight-time World champion Geet Sethi, Rupesh Shah and Devendra Joshi made the grade at the Karnataka State Billiards Association in Bangalore on Monday.
Dhruv Sitwalla pulled off a 4-2 upset victory over former World champion Geet Sethi to enter the men's semi-finals, while Maharashtra's Meenal Thakur claimed the women's crown in the National Billiards Championships in Pune on Friday. Meenal outplayed Anuja Chandra of PSPB 76-59, 17-75, 76-55, 75-55 at the D Y Patil Vidyapeeth.
He defeated compatriot Brijesh Damani 5-1 in the final to defend his title.
Rupesh Shah, Alok Kumar, B Bhaskar and K Venkatesham advanced to the knock-out stage after winning their respective matches at the Indore Tennis Club.
Pankaj Advani completed a clean sweep of the 150-up and Timed formats titles after trouncing England's Robert Hall 1928-893 in the final of the World Billiards Championship in Leeds, on Wednesday night.
Indian ace Pankaj Advani notched up a thrilling win over compatriot Dhruv Sitwala in the semi-final to set up a title clash with nine-time winner and defending champion Mark Russel in the World Professional Billiards Championship in Leeds. Advani edged past Sitwala 1037-972 in an extremely close match.
The 34-year-old Gujarat cueist beat countryman Ashok Shandilya by six frames to four in the final.
Pocketing his 13th World title, ace cueist Pankaj Advani feels that an IPL-like league in snooker or billiards would be a possibility in the game that has become financially rewarding.
Reigning champion Pankaj Advani scored a hard-fought victory over Rupesh Shah to set up a title clash with veteran Geet Sethi in the points format of the ONGC IBSF World Billiards Championship in Bangalore on Thursday. In the first semi-final, Sethi staged a remarkable recovery to beat Devendra Joshi.
The veteran cueist beat Pankaj Advani in the final to win the Senior National billiards title after nine years.
The Indian ace won the title for fifth time, beating England's Lee Lagan in the final in Wales.
National champion Devendra Joshi beat Kwao Oo of Myanmar 4-2 in the semi-finals of the Asian Billiards Championships.
The Indian cueist proved too good for former World champion C Praput of Thailand in the final.
Devendra Joshi and Dhruv Sitwala scored fluent back-to-back wins while Rupesh Shah suffered defeat against Englishman Mike Russell on the opening day of the Time-Format event in the IBSF-DY Patil Vidyapeeth World Billiards Championship in Pune on Tuesday.
Former champion Devendra Joshi came back from a 400 point deficit to annexe the title, defeating Dhruv Sitwala in the final.
Anuja Thakur defeated Lynette Horsburgh of Scotland 243-136 in the summit clash
Cue sports ace Mike Russell of England will be seen in action on the green baize in India after almost a decade-and-a-half at the Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth-IBSF World Billiards Championship which unfolds in Pune on August 20. The former nine-time World champion and Sethi loom as major hurdles in the aspirations of India's defending champion Pankaj Advani at the tournament, which carries a total prize pool of US $18,000.
He had suffered from a paralytic stroke twice and had a third stroke, which paralysed his right side.
Afer winning the points format title, the 19-year old Indian ace beat Geet Sethi in the final of the time format event.
The Indian national champion beat compatriot Devendra Joshi in the final of the points format event.
Seven-time World champion Pankaj Advani, veteran Geet Sethi and Dhruv Sitwala continued their unbeaten run in the Time Format after outplaying their rivals in the World Billiards Championships in Leeds on Sunday.
Pankaj Advani, Rupesh Shah and Dhruv Sitwala kept Indian hopes alive after registering contrasting wins in the quarter-finals of the 2009 World Professional Billiard Championship in Leeds on Saturday.
'Delighted to know that you have achieved your 12th World Title in Leeds, and become the first player to win the grand double thrice'
Pankaj Advani beat Peter Gilchrist 6-3 in the final to claim his 16th world title overall.
India's Pankaj Advani is the new World Professional Billiards Champion. He beat the defending champion, Mark Russel, 2030-1253 to win the title.
Rupesh Shah became only the fifth Indian cueist to lift the world title twice after he beat Australia's Matthew Bolton 6-2 in the final of the World Billiards in the point frame format in Leeds.
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