Kothari knocks Advani out of World Billiards

Defending world billiards champion in the long-up format, Sourav Kothari, on Thursday knocked out Pankaj Advani in the pre-quarterfinal of the World Championship here.

In one of his most commanding performances, Kothari amassed huge breaks of 407, 295 and 170 in a display of relentless scoring to register a comfortable 1047-663 win over Advani in a match stretched to two hours and 30 minutes.

In his second visit to the table itself Kothari made his intentions clear by immaculate display of top of the table play by making a 295 break.

Advani when he got a chance made a light contribution before handing over the charge back to Kothari who amid huge uproar made a mammoth break of 407 displaying deft touch at the top of the table.

With about one hour remaining in the clock and down by almost 700 points, Advani tried to make a last dash at narrowing the huge deficit with a break of 262 points but the task was an uphill one for Advani who ultimately conceded defeat to a relentless Kothari.

Kothari will take on Robert Hall of England in the quarterfinals on Friday.