Published 11:45 IST, September 16th 2019
PM Modi congratulates Pankaj Advani on his 22nd world title
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came forward to congratulate Pankaj Advani after he won his record 22nd world title on Sunday. He defeated Nay Thway Oo 6-2.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Pankaj Advani for clinching his 22nd world title and said the ace cueist's "tenacity is admirable".
Pankaj Advani's race to 22nd world title
Advani defeated local favourite Nay Thway Oo 6-2 to win a fourth straight final in the 150-up format at the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Mandalay, Myanmar on Sunday.
"Congratulations @PankajAdvani247! The entire nation is proud of your accomplishments. Your tenacity is admirable. Best wishes for your future endeavours," Modi tweeted.
Read PM Modi's tweet here:
The 34-year-old has brought home a world trophy every year ever since returning from a professional stint in the UK in 2014. In the short format of billiards, this is Advani's fifth title in the last six years. With another trophy in the bag, Advani extends his remarkable run of winning a global crown since 2003. The Bengaluru-based cueist has won more world titles in his sport than anyone else.
Pankaj’s performance at the World Championship
From the word go, Pankaj was in full flow, as he typically is on the biggest stage. In no time was the gifted Indian at the halfway mark leading 3-0 with the help of fluent breaks comprising of 145, 89 and 127, while the local favorite Nay Thway Oo was yet to open his account. After pulling one back with breaks of 63 and 62, Oo was forced to watch Pankaj continued to extend the lead. Pankaj executed with flair as his sheer brilliance was on display, wowing the Myanmar crowd as they couldn’t help but appreciate his mind-blowing Billiards. Pankaj secured the next two frames which included a 150 unfinished break. Oo’s solitary century in the final cake in the penultimate frame. However, Pankaj scored a 74 break and shortly after that closed out the match as he captured yet another world title. Next up Pankaj switches to Snooker, competing in the IBSF World Six-Red Snooker and the World Team Snooker Championships. While the first is the shorter format of Snooker, the latter is the full 15-red format. Pankaj has under a day to make the transition.
(With PTI Inputs)
11:15 IST, September 16th 2019