National champion Sourav Kothari was the toast of the day as he fired a scintillating break of 494 in the CCI Classic Billiards and Snooker Tournament here today.
Kolkata-based Kothari, of PSPB and the 2011 world bronze medallist, hit the competition's highest break en route to a convincing 1047-269 win over Maharashtra senior state selection champion Arun Agrawal in Group B.
Kothari was in dazzling form as he delighted with impressive top-table play and added a century break of 111 for his fourth straight win in the group that sealed his place in the knock out pre-quarter-finals.
"I could have gone further but I missed a difficult cannon. I was on my toes right through, because one can never be complacent against a billiards specialist like ArunAgrawal," Kothari said after his win.
Kothari's superb effort overshadowed eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani's passion for big breaks as the accomplished Bangalore cueist initiated a break-building spree.
Advani registered three consecutive wins against Satbir Narula of CCI, seasoned Chandresh Shah of Maharashtra and former world professional No. 7 Nalin Patel.
Advani, the national snooker champion, warmed up with a break of 290 against Shah and 261 against Patel, apart from a slew of delightful century breaks.
"For the first time I played the spotted balls. The conditions at the CCI are very good for billiards and conducive for the big breaks," said Advani.
The other significant winners were twice world runner-up Dhruv Sitwala of PSPB and world bronze medallist Ashok Shandilya of Railways who missed a double century break by a solitary point.
