It was a battle between two
Railways stars. Shah of Western was leading Central's sports officer
Ashok 5-1. Shandilya crept back 4-5. In the tenth , Rupesh hit 56,
Shandilya replied with 95 only to see Rupesh hit 61 to finish.
"He was very consistent," said Devendra
Joshi a contemporary from Singapore where he will play in the next
event, the time format world event.
India's Pankaj Advani was
defending champ in both the points and time formats. Pankaj lost in
the round of 16 to Myanmar's Kyaw Oo who Rupesh blanked 5-0 in the
semis. Shandilya beat Aussie Mathew Bolton 5-1 in the other
semi-final.
Rupesh, 34, had come to the
fore winning the junior and senior National billiards titles 15
years ago. He hails from Gujarat which gave cue sports giants like
Satish Mohan and Geet Sethi.
Ashok Shandilya and Rupesh Shah were the
only two Indians left at the semi-final stage. Ashok, who topped his
group, beat Geet Sethi 4-1 in the quarter-final. Rupesh got past
Thailand's C Praprut 4-2. Title holder Pankaj Advani lost in the
pre-quarter-finals to Myanmar's Kyaw Oo who beat home favourite
Peter Gilchrist in the next round.
Dhruv Sitwala was the only Indian not to
qualify from the group. Shandilya beat the dangerous Aung Sang Oo of
Myanmar who has won Asian titles at the cost of the Indians.