India's elite cueists made themselves at home by registering fluent wins to give the 4th Asian Billiards Championship, sponsored by Idea Cellular, ONGC & BPCL, an explosive start, at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana, in Pune on Sunday.
Defending champion Devendra Joshi set the ball rolling with a 3-0 rout of Wan-Sun Lee of Korea that included a 95 break in the opening game, and seven time world champion Geet Sethi, who announced his arrival with the highest break of the day, an unfinished 104 in the first game, crushed Myanmar's Khin Mg Oo 3-1 in opening Group 'A' encounters.
Double Asian Games gold medalist Ashok Shandilya ignored the surprise loss of the opening game before recovering to beat Imran Shahzad of Pakistan 3-1 in a Group 'C' tie, which included an unfinished 101 break in the fourth game by the Indian.
India's B. Bhaskar and national champion Pankaj Advani completed a memorable opening day for the hosts with easy 3-0 wins in Group 'B'.
Rishabh Thakkar, who struck a 91 in the third game to get back into the match, was the only casualty from the host nation after going down 1-3 to the formidable Kyaw Oo of Myanmar in a tight Group 'B' contest.
Among the overseas players, S. Thawat of Thailand hogged the limelight with a pulsating 3-2 win over Sri Lanka's K.H. Sirisoma in a Group 'A' tie later in the evening. Trailing 0-2, Sirisoma bounced back to level at 2-2, before the Thai shut out his challenge with a late but decisive break of 46.
Results
Group A: Devendra Joshi (India) bt Wan-Sun Lee (Korea) 3-0 :- 100(95)-0, 100-82, 100-17; Geet Sethi (India) bt Khin Mg Oo (Myanmar) 3-1 :- 104(104 unf)-0, 102-94, 49-100, 102-4; S. Thawat (Thailand) bt K.H. Sirisoma (SL) 3-2 :- 101(46)-63, 102(47, 21unf)-16, 90-101, 55-100, 100(46)-88; Geet Sethi bt Wan Sun Lee 101(101 unf)-20; 101(49, 37 unf)-30, 101(70 unf)-14.
Group B: Kyaw Oo (Myammar) bt Rishabh Thakkar (India) 3-1 :- 100(59)-42, 100-42, 56-102(91), 102(54)-28; B. Bhaskar (India) bt Ang Boon C. Tommy (Singapore) 3-0 :- 100-36, 102(83)-35, 102(87)-23; Pankaj Advani (India) bt W.A.J. Weerasinghe (SL) 3-0 :- 100-4, 101(65)-22, 101(73)-17, Pankaj Advani bt Rishabh Thakkar 3-0 :- 102-88(43); 100(71 unf)-84; 101(56, 38 unf)-68.
Group C: Ashok Shandilya (India) bt Imran Shahzad (Pak) 3-1 :- 85-101, 101-34, 100-36, 101(101 un)-0; C. Praput (Thailand) bt Lim Jia Sheng (Singapore) 3-0 :- 100-66, 100(74)-12, 101(73)-17; Aung San Oo (Myanmar) bt Sourav Kothari (India) 3-0 :- 100-53; 102(52)-87(73); 100-83; Ashok Shandilya bt Seung-Chil Park (Korea) 3-0 :- 100(52)-10, 101-32, 101(40, 55 unf)-39.
