England’s Martin Goodwill shocked reigning champion Sourav Kothari with a narrow 276-275 win in the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Carlow on Sunday. Despite the loss, Kothari advanced to the pre-quarterfinals. Pankaj Advani topped Group B with dominant wins, while several Indians, including Dhruv Sitwala, progressed to the knockout last-16 stage.
Carlow (Ireland): Veteran cueist Martin Goodwill of England scored a shock win over reigning champion Sourav Kothari in the final Group ‘A’ league match of the IBSF World Billiards Championship here on Sunday.
In a match that bordered on mediocrity, Goodwill, 63, registered a nail-biting 276-275 victory to finish his league engagements with an all-win record. Despite the defeat, Kothari too made the knockout pre-quarterfinals with two wins from three matches.
The fluidity Kothari showed in his previous match -- when he annihilated Akhilesh Mohan of France 825-40, which included a monumental break of 515, last night -- was missing. He struggled to get going and made far too many errors, allowing the Englishman a free run.
Elsewhere, Pankaj Advani, looking to regain the title, topped Group ‘B’ with three wins, all lopsided victories. In his final match, Advani outplayed South Korea’s Baek Minhu 785-161 with notable runs of 162, 88 and 389 in the 90-minute encounter.
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