It's payback time for Russell as he tames Advani

Bengaluru, November 15: Pankaj Advani's bid for a grand double was foiled by Mike Russell as the Englishamn beat him 1250-620 in the semifinal of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Billiards time format semifinal in Doha on Wednesday (November 15).

Advani had defeated Russell in the final of the IBSF World Billiards (150-up points format) last Sunday (November 12) en route to annexing his 17th world title.

But at the Al Arabi Sports Club Indoor Hall on Wednesday, it was payback time for the English veteran as he notched up mammoth breaks of 551, 447 and 189 en route to the victory.

Mike Russell outclassed Pankaj Advani to enter Long Up final https://t.co/sz7m1ARgfK

— IBSF (@ibsf) November 15, 2017

Advani gave a solid start with the initial breaks of 112 and 291 to take a lead of nearly 400 points but when Russell returned to the table, he hit back with his top of the table game.

Though Advani staged a comeback with a break of 130 points, Russell proved too good for him in the end.

The ace Indian cueist had earlier defeated another title contender and former champion Peter Gilchrist in the quarterfinal, but Russell had other plans for him in the semis.

Next up for Advani is the IBSF World Snooker Championship which begins at the same venue on Friday (November 17).

It is for the first time that IBSF is hosting World Championships in both formats at such a short short break and Advani, said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"I've never entered back-to-back snooker and billiards events at a World Championship before. I've done it at the Senior Nationals, but this is quite different. It is going to be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it," Advani said.