Chennai, July 30 (IANS) Pankaj Advani and Balachandra Bhaskar set up an all-Bangalore final in the senior National billiards championships after scoring fluent 4-0 and 4-1 victories against Geet Sethi and Dhruv Sitwala, respectively, here Saturday.
The 26-year old Advani (PSPB) continued his impressive form to brush aside a struggling Sethi (Gujarat) in match between opponents who between them hold 17 World titles.
Sethi, who turned 50 earlier this year, attributed the one-sided semifinal to his own ‘lack lustre’ performance. ‘Nothing went right for me and Pankaj, as usual, played well,’ he said.
Advani had breaks of 111 and 122 besides three half-centuries while Sethi’s best was a 92 in the third frame.
Likewise, the other semifinal fell flat with Bhaskar reaching his maiden National final after getting past two tough opponents, Sitwala and veteran Devendra Joshi whom he beat in the pre-quarterfinal match late Friday night.
Bhaskar, after taking the first three frames, touched top form when it mattered the most with an unfinished 119 in the fifth after Sitwala fought back to take the fourth on a run of 127 unfinished.
The results:
Semifinals (best of 7, 150-up): Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Geet Sethi (Guj) 4-0: 150-114, 150-12, 151-105, 150-104; Balachandra Bhaskar (Kar) bt Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) 4-1: 152-117, 151-130, 151-79, 36-151, 151-60.
