In the much awaited clash between two former world billiard champions, Pankaj, having done a thorough homework before the match, produced a gem of a century break to gain early ascendancy over Peter Gilchrist of Singapore.
Continuing in the same vein, Pankaj had good breaks of 54 in the second and 86 in the third games in the process of taking a commanding 3-0 lead.
Gilchrist still not out of the shock due to the defeat suffered at the hands of Thawat last evening, was not able to find his usual rhythmic flow in the first three games. Even so, he did manage to get one back by prevailing over Pankaj in the fourth game.
Knowing fully well that he could not relax his grip at any stage, Pankaj again reached the desired level of concentration for a break of 97 to take the fifth game. Peter, however, a striking a purple patch for once, compiled a break of 99 to close the gap to 2-4.