PSPB Billiards & Snooker: Sitwala, Kothari, Manan Chandra reach billiards semis

Panaji (Goa), March 25 (IANS) The 17th Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) Inter-unit Billiards and Snooker Championships got off with a major upset as Dhvaj Haria of IOCL knocked out recently-crowned Asian Billiards champion Pankaj Advani of ONGC in a one-sided affair in the last-16 stage.

Advani scored well, but a chance to Dhvaj cost him the game. After that Dhvaj was unstoppable and secured the second game too scoring 100 against 27. Advani attempted a strong recovery but fell short by four points and Dhvaj sealed the game and the match 3-0.

However, Dhvaj failed to qualify for the semi-finals when he lost to Sourav Kothari of ONGC in the next round.

Kothari was off to a good start but with the score of 81, he went out of position leaving an open opportunity for Dhvaj. Dhvaj instantly used that chance and returned to the game but missed a crucial shot close to the margin and then Kothari secured the game after a few safe visits.

After losing in the next round after winning that game, Kothari was unstoppable and he secured the next two games comfortably to enter the semi-finals.

Another player from ONGC, Dhruv Sitwala, the Asia No.2, also confirmed his berth into the semi-final round. He won the deciding frame against S. Shrikrishna of BPCL to reach the quarter-final where he knocked out his fellow colleague Rupesh Shah 3-1.

Meanwhile, the captain of Team ONGC, Alok Kumar lost his crucial match against Manan Chandra of BPCL. Alok scored a break of 69 in the first frame and moved ahead to secure a 2-0 lead over Manan. In the third game, Manan played a bit safe aiming to secure the game and then in the next game he posted a break of 96 to level the match 2-2.

The deciding game was tricky where Alok made a break of 56 but Manan replied with a match-winning break of 81 to knock out Alok Kumar 3-2.