Pankaj wins grand double, extends world title tally to 21

Yangon (Myanmar), Nov 18:Legendary Pankaj Advani extended his world title to 21 by winning the long and short formats of the IBSF World Billiards Championship titles for a record fourth time here.While Pankaj has always won the timed version of the long format, the more recent short version eluded him over the years.Pankaj's city mate from Bengaluru, B Bhaskar, a two-time Asian silver medalist and a bronze medal winner at the world level, had to settle for silver.A weak break by the tall, lanky Bhaskar allowed Pankaj to start off with a bang as he delivered a massive first blow through a 190 break.An additional 173 and 198 widened the gap beyond reach for Bhaskar as he struggled to score a single century. He sat in his chair, probably realising that there was no stopping his colleague on Sunday.When Pankaj crossed the thousand mark in the first-to-1500 final, Bhaskar was languishing at 206. The 800-point deficit eventually proved to be a tall order for Bhaskar to bridge.(PTI)