Former world champion Peter Gilchrist of Singapore seemed to have saved his best for last. The lanky cueist with a last-ditch effort compiled a match-winning unfinished 185 break to secure a come-from-behind 585-539 victory against Indian National billiards champion Dhruv Sitwala in closely contested 150-minute quarter-final match of the All India CCI Billiards Classic 2024, played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones billiards hall on Sunday.
Sitwala who trailed by over 100 points initially, gallantly fought back and with breaks of two century efforts of 181 and 111 managed to seize a sizable lead. But, towards the closing stages he failed to capitalize on the chances that came his way and allowed the Singaporean to gradually claw his way back before constructing his solitary century break to clinch the win by a mere 46 points and seal a place in the semi-final.
Gilchrist now runs into reigning champion and firm favourite Pankaj Advani who easily defeated England’s Peter Sheehan by a clear 1097-692 point difference. Producing another stellar performance Advani recorded breaks of 219, 227, 151, 113, 135 and 176 to complete the win while Sheehan who tried his best managed to compile breaks of 227, 133, 94, 64 and 74.
In another interesting encounter, strong contender David Causier of England with clever tactical play recovered to overcome the spirited challenge from former Indian National billiards champion S. Shrikrishna snatching a 805-623 victory after trailing by almost 200 points at the halfway stage.
In an all-Indian last eight match, Dhvaj Haria overcame Raayan Razmi 692-463 in a low-scoring match.
Results – Quarter-finals: David Causier (Eng) beat S. Shrikrishna (Ind) 805-623
Dhvaj Haria (Ind) beat Raayan Razmi (Ind) 692-463;
Peter Gilchrist (Sin) beat Dhruv Sitwala (Ind) 585-539;
Pankaj Advani (Ind) beat Peter Sheehan (Eng) 1097-692.
