NEW DELHI: Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship title here on Tuesday for a staggering 26th time, beating compatriot Sourav Kothari in the final.

Advani defeated Kothari 1000–416 in a rematch of last year’s title clash in Kuala Lumpur. He had won his first world title in this competition way back in 2005. While Advani has won the ‘long format’ for the ninth time, he triumphed in the ‘point format’ championship on eight occasions, besides winning the World Team Billiards Championship once.

In this tournament, Advani defeated fellow Indian cueist Rupesh Shah 900-273 in the semi-finals.

It saw breaks of 259 and 176 from the defending champion, while Shah managed a 62 break only in the 900-up format.

In the other half of the draw, Kothari pulled off a close win against Dhruv Sitwala, prevailing 900-756 in his semi-final match. Kothari had breaks of 223 and 82, while Sitwala scored 199 and 188.