Kothari stuns Advani on way to final

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 22

Former Asian champion and world no. 2 Sourav Kothari registered a hard-fought win against former world champion Rupesh Shah of ONGC to book a berth in the XIII PSPB Inter-Unit Championship final, here today. 

Kothari, who also represents the ONGC, overcame Shah 3-2 in the semifinals. 

Earlier in the quarterfinals, he defeated world champion Pankaj Advani of ONGC 3-1. In the best of five games encounter, Kothari won the first game, but Advani came back strongly in the next frame to make it 1-1. Thereafter, Kothari with the help of a break of 75 in third frame and two small runs in the fourth wrapped up the match 3-2. 

Kothari will meet snooker World Games gold medallist Aditya Mehta, who represents IOCL, in the finals. Mehta beat IOCL’s Brijesh Damani 3-1 in the semis. 

In the team event, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) beat Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) 2-0. In another match, GAIL blanked OIL 2-0.

In the non-professional snooker event, Jahnab Kamal Kotoki of OIL defeated Naveen Shetty of MRPL 32-34 48-32 49-35. Malatesh (MRPL) overcame OIL’s Soumen Barvah 43-9 25-38 58-51, while AK Puri (OIL) drubbed NK Pandey of GAIL 52-38 46-40. 

Shantanu Kumar Sharma (OIL) beat Vikram (MRPL) 48-41 31-18. 

In the non professional billiards final, Arif Akhtar of IOCL beat OIL’s AK Puri 224-109 to clinch the title.

Results

Professional billiards Quarterfinals Sourav Kothari (ONGC) bt Pankaj Advani (ONGC) 3-1, Rupesh Shah (ONGC) bt Dhvaj Haria (IOCL) 3-1, Brijesh Damani (IOCL) bt Alok Kumar (ONGC) 3-0 

Semifinals Aditya Mehta (IOCL) bt Brijesh Damani (IOCL) 3-1, Sourav Kothari (ONGC) bt Rupesh Shah (ONGC) 3-2

Team event BPCL bt MRPL 2-0, GAIL bt OIL 2-0 

Non-professional billiards Arif Akhtar (IOCL) bt AK Puri (OIL) 224-109

Non-professional snooker  Jahnab Kamal Kotoki (OIL) bt Naveen Shetty (MRPL) 2-1, Malatesh (MRPL) bt Soumen Barvah (OIL) 2-1, AK Puri (OIL) bt NK Pandey (GAIL) 2-0, Shantanu Kumar Sharma (OIL) bt Vikram (MRPL) 2-0