Pankaj Advani shocks
Ashok Shandilya

Junior national champion Pankaj Advani continued his giant-killing run in the second Asian billiards championship, beating his senior compatriot Ashok Shandilya 3-2 in a Group 'B' league match in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Advani, who had shocked second seed Udon Khaimukh of Thailand on Monday, beat Shandilya 101-26, 95-100, 5-102, 100-7, 101-9.

Commenting on his victory over Shandilya, Advani said: "I have played at least four or five times against Shandilya, an experienced player, but this is my first win against him."

Defending champion Geet Sethi also began his title defence, which he won 17 years ago when the first edition was held in 1986, beating Muslim of Indonesia 3-0 in Group A, while former National champion Devendra Joshi, in the same group, continued with his dazzling run, blanking compatriot Dhruv Sitwala 3-0 to earn his third successive win.

Sixteen-year-old Advani, India's champion in both billiards and snooker, bounced back in style from a 2-1 deficit after winning the opening game. He left Shandilya dazed. Despite committing hardly any mistakes and leading 2-1 at one point, Shandilya was beaten by the brilliance of the youngster.

It was Advani's third victory from as many matches. Earlier in the morning, he had beaten U Win Myint of Myanmar 3-1.

In other group 'A' matches of the day, veteran Boteju of Sri Lanka earned his third win in as many matches defeating U Aung Sen Oo of Myanmar 3-1, while Khaimukh crushed Theik Chong Aian Puan of Singapore 3-0 and U Kyaw Oo of Myanmar beat Glen Yeo Teck Shin of Singapore 3-0 in Group B.