Pankaj eyes World Billiards Championship

Bangalore, Jul 1 (UNI) After successfully winning the Australian Billiards Championship recently, World Champion Pankaj Advani now eyes the World Professional Billiards Championship to be held in Leeds in the UK from July 23 to 27.

Addressing a press conference here today, the 23-year-old Bangalore lad said ''it was a great experience. This was for the first time, I am lifting the title on winning points format. It has boosted my morale in preparation for the Leeds.'' Pankaj had defeated his countrymate Sitvala (Maharashtra) in the finals 7-1 to lift the title.

To a question, he said he had a tough match against Mathew Bolton of hosts Australia in the semifinals, which he (Pankaj) won 5-4.

''In the finals, I wanted to start well and finish quickly, but it costed me dearly of losing one game in the second frame (1-1).

However, I switched gear and won the next five and clinched the title in the best of seven format.'' To another question, he said ''I learnt much more off the table in this trip. It was a great experience and Australia is a very sporting country.'' Pankaj's victory marks Wilson Jones 50th year of winning the Billiards World Championship in 1958. ''My win was a great tribute to legendry player Jones,'' he added.

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