CCI Billiards Classic: Pankaj Advani, David Causier storm into last 16

Mumbai, March 29 (IANS) World champion Pankaj Advani of India and former World champion David Causier of England recorded their third successive wins and stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the All-India CCI Billiards Classic 2024 at the Cricket Club of India’s (CCI) Wilson Jones Billiards Hall on Friday.

The Bengaluru-based Advani staved off a spirited challenge from Mumbai’s talented cueist Raayan Razmi by pulling off a 603-418 victory in a Group-A match in the two-hour session Group-A league match. Advani started with a run of 235 and later compiled a break of 90 to secure the win, while Raayan made a 93 and followed it with a neat 124 to try and stay in the fight. Razmi with two wins also advanced to the pre-quarters.

The Englishman Causier, the winner of multiple World titles, was on a roll and constructed substantial breaks of 203, 124, 160, 152, 162, 93, and 70 to tame Maharashtra number one Mahesh Jagdale by a massive 1168-418 margin in a Group-C match. Causier joined Advani and Raayan in the knockout draw.

Earlier, World championship runner-up Sourav Kothari regained his winning touch as he outplayed seasoned professional Alok Kumar by scripting a convincing 889-200 points victory in a Group-F match. The Kolkata-based Kothari and Mumbai cueist Rohan Jambusaria qualified for the pre-quarterfinals from this group.

Meanwhile, former CCI billiards champion Siddharth Parikh and seasoned Arun Agrawal won their respective final-round matches in Group-H and also progressed to the knockout round. Siddharth with three successive wins topped the group.

Parikh with steady breaks of 183, 71, 96 and 72 outplayed England’s Chris Taylor by posting a fluent 671-254 win. On an adjacent table, Mumbai’s veteran player Agrawal played fluently to tame CCI cueist Kanishk Jhanjharia 702-280. Agrawal produced breaks of 157, 61, 95 and 79.

Results:

Group-A: Pankaj Advani beat Rayaan Razmi 603-418.

Group-C: David Causier beat Mahesh Jagdale 1168-335.

Group-E: Kamal Chawla beat Rishabh Thakkar 503-267; Dhruv Sitwala beat Shahyan Razmi 817-196.

Group-F: Sourav Kothari beat Alok Kumar 889-200.

Group-H: Siddharth Parikh beat Chris Taylor 671-254; Arun Agrawal beat Kanishk Jhanjharia 702-280

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