Advani, Gilchrist in title round

The two best players in the fray, Pankaj Advani and Peter Gilchrist entered the final of the World Billiards Championship (points, 150-up format) with hard-fought semi-final victories here.

Advani, the 29-year-old from Bangalore and holder of nine world titles, overcame fellow-Indian Sourav Kothari 5-2 while Singapore-based Englishman Gilchrist, also a former World champion, edged out England's Robert Hall 5-3 in the semi-finals here Thursday.

The final, scheduled for Friday evening (5.30 pm IST), will be a repeat of the league clash between the two, where Gilchrist beat Advani 3-2 after the Indian had taken a 2-0 lead.

Advani, returning to the billiards tour after a two-year stint on the professional snooker circuit, crafted four century breaks, three of them in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames while Kothari, son of former World Champion Manoj, had two runs over 100, but could not keep pace with his opponent.

The results (semi-finals):

Pankaj Advani bt Sourav Kothari 5-2: 104 (63)-150 (91); 150 (135)-103 (80); 0-150 (139); 150 (95, 55)-28; 150 (151)-0; 150 (148)-48; 150 (138)-143 (119). Peter Gilchrist (SIN) bt Robert Hall (ENG) 5-3: 104-150 (70, 73); 150 (99)-118 (59); 150 (97)-136 (93); 43-150 (63); 150 (70, 81)-96 (60); 150 (98)-0; 75 (73)-150 (96); 150 (144)-123 (120).