Pankaj Advani stuns Subash Agarwal

By Avinash Nair

BANGALORE, FEB. 7. The teen sensation, Pankaj Advani of Karnataka came of age today In a scintillating display of talent and temperament, the 14 year-old stunned former world No. 2, Subash Agarwal of Railways in a Group `E' league match of the 66th National men's billiards championship that got underway at the KSBA hall here on Monday.

That Pankaj, a consistent top-notch performer at the state level, had the big match potential was obvious. And when he qualified for the Nationals, finishing third in the state championship, the youngster did give a hint or two of things to follow. But that he delivered the `punch' in the very first encounter of the Nationals and against an opponent revered for his staying ability was indeed a dream start.

`` I'm delighted,'' said the 9th standard student of Frank Anthony Public School (FAPS), in his usual unassuming manner. But what he achieved today, is a strong hint of things to come in the following days.

Pankaj began steadily and the early lead came in handy. Although Subash came up with a 98 in his eighth visit and 132 in the 25th, the leeway that the youngster had build was just a little too wide. Pankaj on his part potted in a 84 (24th) and a 59 in the 30th to stretch the lead and although with time running out Subash did come up with an unfinished 56, it was a gleeful Pankaj who welcomed the `buzzer' which brought an end to the two- hour format match.

Subash alongwith last year's runner-up Devendra Joshi (Maharashtra) came up with century breaks in the day, while the highest for the day was recorded by Dhruv Sitwala, also of Maharashtra who came up with a 196 in his Group F match against Umesh Sood (HP) which the former won 782-214.

Qualifier J.S. Dawar from Maharashtra registered two impressive victories in Group H. After disposing Shardanand Sinha (Bihar) in the morning at 639-356, Dawar came back to outsmart Statemate Amit Sharma 512-388.

Defending champion Alok Kumar of Punjab too came up a comfortable opener against K.K. Khanna of Jammu & Kashmir winning 784-420, with notable breaks of 58, 74, 59, 62 and 98. Four qualifiers joined the 36 direct entrants in the field for honours.

The Groupings: A: Alok Kumar (Pun), Yasin Merchant (Mah), K.K. Khanna (JK), Anil Sharma (Hyd) and Shahid Rizvi (UP); Group B: Devendra Joshi (Mah), Subhas Sood (Del), I.H. Manudev (Kar), Vishal Abrol (JK), S. Mumtaz Ali (Bih); Group C: Md. Asim (WB), D. Lily (Pun), N. Subba Rao (AP), Lalit (Hyd), Kamlesh Makhija (Raj); Group D: B. Bhaskar (Kar), Rupesh SHah (Guj), S.M. Habibullah (TN), Ram Gopal Sood (HP), Aditya Goenka (Raj); Group E: Prem Prakash (TN), S.B. Agarwal (Rlys), Aditya Dube (MP), Pankaj Advani (Kar), Devang Shah (Mah); Group F: S.K. Jagtiani (Rlys), Dhruv Sitwala (Mah), A.R. Azeem (Ker), Umesh Sood (HP), Ashok Shandilya (rlys); Group G: Manoj Kothari (WB), A. Haque (Ori), Achint Verma (Pun), K. Someswara Rao (AP), Sanjay Bisht (UP), Varun Taneha (Rlys); Group H: M.E. Jokhi (Guj), Rajnish Bansal (MP), S. Sen (Ori), Shardanand Sinha (Bih), Amit Sharma (Del), J.S. Dawar (Mah).

The results:

Group A: K.K. Khanna (J&K) bt Shahid Rizvi (UP) 366-290; Yasin Merchant (Mah) w/o Anil Sharma (Hyd); Alok Kumar (Pun) bt K.K. Khanna 784-420.

Group B: Subhas Sood (Del) bt Vishal ABrol (J&K) 524-277; Devendra Joshi (Mah) bt I.H. Manudev (Kar0 913-440.

Group C: Kamlesh Makhija (Raj) w/o N. Subba Rao (AP); Dharmendra Lily (Pun) bt Lalit (Hyd) 675-314; Md. Asim (WB) w/o Subba Rao.

Group D: B. Bhaskar (Kar) bt Aditya Goenka (Raj) 635-473; Rupesh Shah (Guj) bt Ram Gopal Sood (HP) 816-169; Aditya Goenka bt S.M. Habibullah (TN) 606-265.

Group E: Prem Prakash (TN) w/o Aditya Dube (MP); Pankaj Advani (Kar) bt Subash Agarwal (Rlys) 770-646; Devang Shah (Mah) w/o Aditya Dube.

Group F: S.K. Jagtiani (Rlys) bt A.R. Azeem (Ker) 541-517; Dhruv Sitwala (Mah) bt Umesh Sood (HP) 782- 214; Ashok Shandilya (Rlys) bt A.R. Azeem 866-412.

Group G: Manoj Kothari (WB) w/o Achint Verma (Pun); K. Someswara Rao (AP) bt H. Haque (Ori) 508-441; Varun taneja (Rlys) bt A. Haque 515-456.

Group H: J.S. Dawar (Mah) bt Shardanand Sinha (Bih) 639-356; M.E. Jokhi (Guj) bt S. Sen (Ori) 705-312; J.S. Dawar bt Amit Sharma (Del) 512-388; Amit Sharma bt S. Sen 642-460.

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