Dhvaj, Rupesh assured of bronze at World Biiliards Championships

AHMEDABAD: Two Gujarat cueists - Rupesh Shah and Dhvaj Haria - assured themselves of at least a bronze medal by booking their semifnal berth of the IBSF World Billiards Championships in Bengaluru.
While Rupesh easily got past the 16-year-old S Shrikrishna, who had spotlight on him after a stunning last-16 stage win over B Bhaskar, 1002-646, Dhvaj, 23, had to fight it out against Aung Htay (Myn) 1001-677.
While Shah will take on world number Peter Gilchrist of Singapore, Haria will lock horns with country mate Sourav Kothari for a place in the final.
Speaking to TOI, Haria said that coming into his third world meet, his target was to enter semis which he achieved. "I topped my group which was really amazing. This is my maiden semifinal appearance and I aim to give him a good fight and a better medal colour will be a bonus for me," the Amdavadi told TOI.
Dhvaj had earlier created flutter when he upset the first-day hero Siddharth Parikh 501-315 in the league matches to top the groop. Having let Peter Gilchrist off the hook earlier in the day in a close match (485-502), left-handed Haria, 23, didn't make the same mistakes against Parikh, the conqueror of Gilchrist on the opening day.
Touted as one of the stars of the future, Haria, who could be mistaken for a basketballer at 6'3'', made capital of Parikh's errors for a comfortable victory. Having made an 88 and 89 early in the match, Haria closed out the 500-point contest with an unfinished 206.