Seasoned campaigner Alok Kumar was the cynosure of all eyes with his Asian Billiards title, but overall it was an average year for Indian cue sports as success eluded the country at the major international events.
Alok blanked Praput Chaithanasukan of Thailand 6-0 to win the coveted Asian Billiards title in April at the Olympic Stadium of Kish Island in Iran. He thus became the first player to achieve the rare feat of winning both the Billiards and Snooker Asian title.
Earlier, back in 2004 in Jordan, Alok lifted the Asian Snooker title by defeating compatriot Pankaj Advani in the finals. In March, Alok had won the 8-ball and 9-ball National Pool titles by defeating compatriots Sumit Talwar and Rafath Habib respectively.
Seven-time world champion Pankaj Advani was the biggest disappointment this year as he failed to lift even a single international title. The last international event in which Advani appeared was the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Bangalore, where he made a shocking exit in the semi-final after being defeated 1-7 by Lee Walker of Wales.
In the World Professional Billiards Championship in Leeds, Advani lost to defending champion Mike Russell of England 1012-1250 in the semi-final, whereas in the IBSF World Billiards Championship (Point Format) in August, the Indian faltered at the final hurdle and went down 3-6 to 10-time world champion Russell in Carlow, Ireland.
In the Asian Snooker Championship held at Indore, Advani finished as semi-finalist, while in the Asian Billiards Championship at Iran, he exited in the quarter-finals.
Despite not being able to win a single international title, the Bangalore-boy is not doubting his self-abilities and said he just needs to improve his technique and concentration levels before getting back to winning ways.
"You can't win gold every time, even a silver is good enough. So there is nothing wrong in the fact that I have not won any international championship this year. I am not at all doubting my self-abilities. It's just a matter of time before I get back to winning ways," Advani said.
"It's just that I need to bring in some changes in technique. I need to improve my concentration level, and mental and physical fitness. I still have enough energy left in me," said Advani, the first cueist ever to have achieved the Grand Double by winning the IBSF World Billiards Championships in time and points format.
However, at the national level, Advani won the billiards title by defeating compatriot B Bhaskar 5-1 while surrendering his snooker crown to PSPB's Alok Kumar 2-5 in the quarter-finals.
Advani was not the only disappointment this year as most other Indian cueists also failed to register any major success at international competitions.
In the Asian 6-Red Snooker Championship in Thailand, Kamal Chawla finished as semi-finalist while Brijesh Damani exited in the quarter-finals.
In the Asian Snooker Championship in Indore, Aditya Mehta made it to the summit clash but lost to Passakorn Suwannawat of Thailand 2-6. Advani finished as semi-finalist, while Kamal Chawla lost in the quarters.
Dhruv Sitwala and Sourav Kothari won joint bronze medal in the Australian Open Billiards Championship while Sitwala secured the silver in the South Australian Invitational Billiards Championship in Adelaide.
In the World Cup of Pool held in Bangkok, Aditya and Advani participated, but both failed to qualify from the group stage.
Alok Kumar, B Bhaskar, Devendra Joshi and Rupesh Kumar finished as top-16 in the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Ireland while Geet Sethi, Ashok Shandilya and Dhruv Sitwala managed to reach the quarter-finals.
The year also witnessed the sad demise of former international cue sports player and national coach Mukesh Rehani in June. He died after suffering a heart attack. Rehani was 52 and is survived by his wife and two children. He started his professional career in 1989 and last played for India in 2003.
He was the first Indian to reach the knock-out stage of the World 9-ball Championship in 2002. After 2003, he was working with the BSFI and was also employed with Railways.
Suniti Damani became the new women's 9-ball Pool national champion after defeating Keerat Bhandaal of Delhi 6-5 in the final. Tamil Nadu's Neena Praveen won the 8-ball Pool title after overwhelming Damani 5-1 in the summit clash.
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