Pankaj Advani won a thrilling encounter against compatriot Dhruv Sitwala to clinch the IBSF World Billiards title in the time format for second year on the trot in Singapore on Friday.
Advani scored a 1963-1489 victory to lift the Arthur Walker Trophy after a six-hour battle at the Orchid Country Club.
Advani, who was defending both the points (150-up) and time format (2 hour) titles, had lost in the round of 16 in the points format last week.
"It was the first time that I successfully defended a world title. It's never easy maintaining your position at the top. And I had to come back after doing badly in the points format. After four-and-a-half hours when we were level, the match could have gone any way," said Advani after their match.
As the title in the points format was won by countryman Rupesh Shah, Advani was happy that Indians ruled the roost at the highest level.
"In snooker, China are on the top; Indians are on the top in billiards," he said.
Advani said his match against Peter Gilchrist of Singapore was his best in the event, as he made a 355 break to end his resistance. Gilchrist had downed Rupesh Shah 1148-819 in the quarter-finals.
Sitwala, who defeated former champion Geet Sethi 1053-932 to enter the final, said it was tough to accept defeat after coming so close to the title.
"It was tough to lose after beating Sethi and (Ashok) Shandilya. The breaks Pankaj made towards the end finished me. Even when he missed he did not give me a chance," said Sitwala.
He said his loss in the preliminary rounds in the points format had affected his morale but the victory over Sethi boosted him.
"It was a test of character for me as I had not made the knockout stage in the points format and my self-esteem was low for the time format. I won the league matches after trailing.
"But I grew in confidence after beating England amateur champ Mathew Sutton with breaks of 150 and 186. I had beaten Sethi three times in a row on the Indian circuit but not on the international circuit."
