Advani, Gilchrist the cynosure

Big ticket players Pankaj Advani and Peter Gilchrist will be the men to beat while a clutch of seasoned Indians would be looking to scale a new peak in their careers when the IBSF World Billiards Championship kicks off here on Monday.

Advani, the defending long-up format champion, and Singaporean Gilchrist, the reigning points format title holder, come into this event with plenty of confidence and their intense rivalry is set to be the main feature of the eight-day bash at the KSBA hall.

Last year at Adelaide, Gilchrist drew first blood when he beat Advani in the final of the points format but the 31-year-old Indian exacted perfect revenge when he flattened the three-time professional (WPBSA World Championship) champion in the long-up format with some sensational billiards.

Advani, though, would be feeling slightly more confident than the 48-year-old Gilchrist despite not having played much billiards this season. Firstly, going by history, there are very few cueists who thrive in home conditions as much as Advani. The last time KSBA hosted the World Billiards Championship in 2008, Advani aced both the time and points formats, the second time he had achieved a grand double.

Advani, who scored an unprecedented third double two years ago, is also a 15-time world champion with 10 of those titles coming in billiards. Simply put, he is one of the best billiards player ever and beating him on his home turf would take some doing.

“I always love playing in Bengaluru, my city, and more so at KSBA, my second home,” said a confident Advani. “I don’t have to stay at hotels and I can eat home food. Playing a world championship in your hometown is a cueist’s delight. I’m feeling very energised and raring to have a crack at another world title.”

Advani, who sacrificed a pro tour card in snooker so that he can play more billiards, strangely has ended up playing more snooker this year. While that was not intentional, the schedule just turned up that way. He comes into this event following a bronze medal at the IBSF World Snooker Championship but with very little time to switch gears to billiards. However, if there’s anyone who toggle between snooker and billiards seamlessly, it’s Advani.

Gilchrist, an Englishman who has taken Singapore citizenship and works as the coach of their national team, is one of the giants of the modern game. With years of experience behind him, he hs mastered the game of billiards that’s more metronomic as compared to snooker.

Unlike the hugely popular World snooker that receives more than 100 entries from over 50 countries, this World Billiards Championship has 22 participants in long-up format and 24 in points format. With 12 of them being Indians, for Advani it will be more like a national championship.

Asian Billiards champions Sourav Kothari, Alok Kumar and Dhruv Sitwala could be dangerous on their day and having made good strides internationally in recent years, they will be determined to take the next step -- bag a maiden world title. Rupesh Shah, a two-time world champion, would be looking to turn the clock back while Englishman Robert Hall is the dark horse.