Asian Games billiards: Advani wins first gold for India

GUANGZHOU - Defending champion Pankaj Advani retained his title by beating Myanmar’s OO Nay Thway Oo 3-2 in the English billiards singles final and gave India the first gold at the Asian Games here Sunday.

Advani defeated Thway 33-100, 100-61, 12-101, 101-4, 100-45 in a thrilling contest at the Asian Games Town Gymnasium.

The Bangalorean, who earlier in the day defeated another Myanmarese OO Kyaw Oo for a spot in the final, started slowly in the summit clash and lost the opening frame 33-100. But the 2008 World Billiards Champion got into his groove in the next game, winning it 100-61.

Thway, who downed legendary Singaporean Peter Gilchrist in the semi-final, showed his class as he bounced back to win the third frame 101-12 and took a 2-1 lead.

Advani had earlier expressed reservations about the shortened format and said “there is no room for mistakes and the format comes across like T10 cricket where anything can happen”. And he did just that in the remaining two frames.

The 25-year-old produced a flawless game in the last two frames, winning it 101-4, 100-45 to win the first gold for India.

Alok Kumar also brought good news by entering the semi-finals of the men’s 8-ball pool singles. He defeated Indonesian Ricky Yang 3-2 in the quarter-finals. Alok now plays Po-Cheng Kuo for a place in the finals.