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LEEDS: Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani proved his class once again as he notched up his seventh World Billiards Championship title after comprehensively beating defending champion and seasoned Englishman Mike Russell in the final.
The celebrated cueist stamped his dominance with a 1895-1216 win over the local favourite.
Fresh from his resounding 881-281 victory over compatriot Dhruv Sitwala in the semifinals, Pankaj raced into a lead with a century break of 147 and a double century break of 298 within the first hour of the five-hour long encounter.
The experienced Mike then scored a break of 397 to equalise but Pankaj fought back strongly with breaks of 131 and 92 to take the lead in the first half of the match.
Pankaj started the second half with another century break of 128 and followed this with breaks of 94 and 108 to cement his lead over Mike.
With a final century break of 119, Pankaj beat the 11-time champion to clinch his fourth world title in the timed format. It was a case of history repeating itself for Pankaj who had beaten Mike 2030-1253 in the finals of the World Professional Billiards Championship in 2009 at the same venue.
This is the eighth overall world title for Pankaj and his seventh in billiards.
His first world title in billiards came in 2005 when he created history by becoming the first cueist ever to win the Timed and Points format of the IBSF World Billiards Championship in the same year, a feat he repeated in 2008.
He also won the IBSF World Billiards Championship (Timed Format) in 2007 and won World Professional Billiards title 2009.
The only active player to compete at the highest level in both Billiards and Snooker, Pankaj made the tough choice of picking the World Billiards Championship over International Snooker Championships due to a clash in the dates of the two tournaments.
Pankaj Advani wins World Billiards title - Times Of India
