Mumbai, March 10 (IANS) In a remarkable turnaround, which showcased his resilience and intense fighting spirit, reigning National and Asian snooker champion Pankaj Advani completed a hat-trick of titles with a comeback 8-6 finale win over Ishpreet Singh Chadha in the CCI Snooker Classic 2025.

Advani triumphed 15-57, 26-101, 18-75, 100-25, 36-93, 118-0, 59-68, 45-77, 64-47, 93-72, 70 -60, 75-32, 73-32, 75-47 in a hard-fought final played over three gruelling sessions played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones billiards hall on late Sunday night.

Advani, for his sterling effort, was presented with the champions’ trophy and a cheque of Rs 3.5 lakh, while Ishpreet received the runner-up trophy and an award of Rs 1.75 lakh.

The Bengaluru-based Advani is clearly at home in The CCI snooker room, as he registered his third title on the trot. What is remarkable is that the multiple-time World Champion was staring at the barrel, down 2-6 against Ishpreet in the best-of-15 frames encounter.

Apart from his potting skills, what came to the fore was Advani's technical superiority, especially his safety play as he hunkered down to deliver a snooker masterclass.

That Advani has Ishpeet's number is evident from the fact that he repeated his NSCI ‘Baulkline 3.0’ win over Ishpreet which occurred last year.

Ishpreet started positively and constructed breaks of 101 and 61 to win the opening three frames. Advani compiled a break of 55 to pocket the fourth and halt Ishpreet's run. But then Ishpreet seized control and surged ahead to lead 6-2. At this stage, he wanted just a couple more frames to seal the deal.

After that, Advani did not lose another single frame thereafter to wind up with another trophy to add to his extensive and burgeoning collection of titles.

“When two good players are contesting a high-quality game and it’s a high-stakes game, especially a final it certainly brings out the best in each other. I started really slowly, I thought the match was his to lose after being 4-1 and 6-2 up. But I just hung in there,” said a composed Advani.

"Sometimes you have to just do that and I am so glad that I could turn it around and take it away from him (Ishpreet) who made a 147 and probably played the best snooker in the entire tournament," he said.

“Ishpreet definitely played better snooker in the first half, but in the second I put up a better performance. I did not make big breaks but I think I played steady snooker and it paid off,” he further stated.

Result (final): Pankaj Advani beat Ishpreet Singh Chadha 8-6 (15-57, 36-101(101), 18-75(61), 100(55)-25, 36-93, 118(60)-0, 59-68(68), 45-77, 64-47, 93-72, 70-60(60), 75-37, 73-32, 75-47).

--IANS

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