Carlow, April 24: Defending champion Sourav Kothari will begin the defence of his title with a Group ‘A’ match against South Korea’s Hwang Chulho in the IBSF World Billiards Championship that gets underway here on Saturday.
Top players gather for global event
Most of the big names in the business, including multiple-time champion Pankaj Advani, have descended on Carlow for the rare billiards event, which will be contested in the timed format.
Thirteen Indians are in the fray in the 32-player field. The players have been divided into eight groups of four each. The top two from each group will advance to the knockout quarterfinals. The league matches will be 90-minute affairs.
Kothari confident ahead of title defence
“The preparation has been going well,” reigning champion Kothari said on tournament eve. “Defending a World title is never easy, but I am approaching it with the same hunger and discipline that helped me win last year,” added the 41-year-old.
Like Kothari, 19-time World billiards champion Advani will be eager to wrest the crown back. The Bengalurean has put in consistent hours of practice after his double triumph at his maiden pool Nationals earlier this month.
Strong Indian presence in tournament
Besides Kothari and Advani, Dhruv Sitwala, a four-time finalist, Dhvaj Haria, Shrikrishna, Rupesh Shah and Siddharth Parikh are the other Indians who will be watched with interest.
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Among the other contenders, Peter Gilchrist, Mike Russell, David Causier and Robert Marshall will be looking to end Indian cueists’ dominance in recent times. All made the semifinals of the World Matchplay Championship (100-up) on Friday, a prelude to the Worlds. They will hope to carry that form into the timed event as well.
