World English Billiards C'ship: Pankaj Advani wins his 26th world title

Pankaj Advani lifted his 26th world title as he won the World English Billiards (Long-Up) Championship 2023 in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.

He won with a comfortable 1000-416 margin against compatriot Sourav Kothari in the final. Pankaj saw breaks of 214 and 199, while Kothari managed a break of 107 and 99.

Advani stormed into the final with a convincing victory over fellow Indian Rupesh Shah. He defeated the Gujarat cueist 900-273. The semifinal saw breaks of 259 and 176 from the champion, while Shah managed a 62 break only in the 900-up format.

In the other semifinal, Kothari pulled off a close win against Dhruv Sitwala, prevailing 900-756. Kothari had breaks of 223 and 82 while Sitwala scored 199 and 188.

Earlier, Pankaj and Kothari topped their respective group to qualify for the knockout round without losing any match. These two are meeting each other in the final of the world championships for the second time and Pankaj came out on top on both occasions.

Pankaj will look to add one more title to his trophy cabinet from this championship as he is also taking part in the 150-up format of English billiards starting on Tuesday.

Four Bronze at the World Snooker Championship

Amee Kamani and Vidya Pillai won the bronze medal in the Women's Snooker after losing their respective semifinal matches. Amee lost 0-4 against the Hong Kong player Ng On Yee whereas Vidya lost 0-4 to eventual champion 20-year-old Bai Yulu of China.

Manan Chandra and Kamal Chawla won the bronze medal in the World Snooker Master category at this championships after losing their respective semis to UAE and Bahrain opponents.