Glasgow: India's 'B' team defeated its 'A' side 5-4 in an all-Indian final to clinch the inaugural World Team Billiards Championships title here. Top cueists from India displayed their skill on the green baize as both the teams gave each other a tough fight, but in the end India 'B' consisting of top guns like Pankaj Advani, Rupesh Shah, Ashok Shandilya and Devendra Joshi prevailed over their compatriots.
India 'A' comprised Alok Kumar, Sourav Kothari, Dhruv Sitwala and Balachandra Bhaskar. In what turned out to be a fierce battle, Rupesh Shah defeated Alok Kumar and Pankaj Advani outclassed Sourav Kothari in the last session. Devendra Joshi and Ashok Shandilya won their respective matches to give India 'B' the victory in the final.
Earlier, India 'A' and India 'B' had knocked out their respective opponents in the semifinals to set up an all-India clash in the final. While India 'A' had outplayed England 'A' 5-1 in the semifinals, India 'B' blanked Republic of Ireland 6-0.
Advani, who recently made the country proud by not just winning the IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championship but also creating a unique record of winning world titles in the longer and shorter formats of both billiards and snooker, has now added one more title to his incredible shelf with this victory.
India 'A' cueists have missed out on their first world title after this loss, with veterans like former Asian and billiards champion Kumar, reigning Asian billiards champion Kothari, world billiards runner-up Sitwala and Asian Games bronze medallist Bhaskar settling with a second-place finish.
