KARACHI: Pakistan’s Babar Masih went down fighting 7-5 against India’s Pankaj Advani in the final of the IBSF 6-Red World Cup to settle for a silver medal in Doha.
Babar, who had defeated the German cueist in the semi-final, looked under pressure initially in the final but later fought back, but couldn’t stop his Indian opponent from sailing to the title.
India started the final by winning the first frame 42-12, but Babar levelled it immediately by taking the next frame 38-14. Pankaj Advani again extended his lead as Babar made a crucial miss in frame 3 and frame 4.
Trailing 1-3 down, Babar didn’t let pressure dictate his nerves and played a break of 53 in the fifth frame to shorten the deficit. But Pankaj then won three consecutive frames and was in a commanding position with a clear lead of 6-2.
With 6-2, Pankaj needed only one frame to win the title but Babar’s brilliance kept him waiting till the 12th frame as the Pakistani cueist won three consecutive frames to scare Advani to make it 5-6.
Babar needed to win the 12th frame to level the game and take the best of the 13 frames final to the nail-biting final frame but a break of 32 by Pankaj Advani kept Babar away from levelling the final.
Pankaj won the title match by 42-13, 14-38, 53-0, 42-19, 01-53, 47-17, 44-00, 36-03, 0-43, 12-46, 15-59, 53-05.
Earlier, on Tuesday morning, Babar Masih downed Germany’s Richard Wienold 6-4 in the semi-final.
