Parikh surprises Advani in billiards

Aided by two breaks of 100 and a 96, Siddharth Parikh pulled off a 3-1 win over World and National champion Pankaj Advani here Thursday in the selection trials for the Asian Billiards Championship.

The result helped Parikh to top the rankings in camp ahead of Advani who however topped the Overall standings ahead of Parikh.

It was the second defeat in six matches for Advani who had lost to Brijesh Damani earlier in the league.

The three-day trials were held to pick the Indian contingent whose strength will be six if the country hosts the championship or two if the tournament is held abroad. The venue for Asian billiards is still to be decided.

The results (100-up, league): Siddharth Parikh bt Pankaj Advani 3-1; Balachandra Bhaskar bt Dhruv Sitwala 3-1; Rupesh Shah bt Brijesh Damani 3-0; Dhvaj Haria bt Jaiveer Dhingra 3-1; Damani bt Dhingra 3-1; Shah bt Haria 3-1; Parikh bt Bhaskar 3-1; Advani bt Sitwala 3-1.

Camp Ranking: 1. Siddharth Parikh; 2. Pankaj Advani; 3. Rupesh Shah; 4. Balachandra Bhaskar; 5. Dhruv Sitwala; 6. Brijesh Damani; 7. Dhvaj Haria; 8. Jaiveer Dhingra.

Overall Ranking: 1. Advani; 2. Parikh; 3. Sitwala; 4. Shah; 5. Bhaskar; 6. Haria; 7. Damani; 8. Dhingra.