 "Pankaj Advani aims to maintain winning streak at CCI Billiards Classic")
Defending champion Pankaj Advani will be aiming to maintain his winning streak at the upcoming CCI Billiards Classic starting here on Tuesday.
Winner of 27 World Championship titles, Advani has displayed far superior skills compared to his rivals as he secured three back to back titles at various CCI events in the past year and half.
Bagging the CCI Classic Snooker title in January 2023 and having defended it successfully recently, he is eyeing another conquest in the upcoming tournament.
However, top Indian cuesists like national champion Dhruv Sitwala, runner-up Sourav Kothari and Maharashtra No. 1 Mahesh Jagdale will pose a tough challenge to Advani.
The field also comprises international players like multiple world champion Peter Gilchrist of Singapore and Englishmen David Causier, Peter Sheehan, Chris Taylor, and last year's runner-up Rob Hall.
Former world champions like Rupesh Shah, Ashok Shandilya, and Devendra Joshi will also be vying for the title.
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The competition has a prize money of Rs 10.15 lakh. The championship winner will be offered Rs 250,000 and a trophy, while the runner-up will be richer by Rs 150,000.
The tournament format will feature 24 seeded players and eight qualifiers in the main draw, divided into eight groups for round-robin league matches. The top two players from each group will advance to the knockout stage.
The Groupings
Group A: Pankaj Advani, Rayaan Razmi, Devendra Joshi and Rovin D'Souza.
Group B: Rob Hall (UK), Rupesh Shah, Ashok Shandilya and Nishan Dossa,
Group C: David Causier (UK), Mahesh Jagdale, Vishal Madan and Aditya Agrawal.
Group D: Peter Gilchrist (SIN), S. Srikrishna, Nikhil Oootam and Akshay Gogri.
Group E: Dhruv Sitwala, Shahyan Razmi, Kamal Chawla and Rishabh Thakkar.
Group F: Sourav Kothari, Alok Kumar, Rohan Jambusaria and Rishabh Kumar.
Group G: Dhvaj Haria, Peter Sheehan (UK), Loukic Pathare and Rajeev Sharma.
Group H: Siddharth Parikh, Chris Taylor, Arun Agrawal and Kanishk Jhankharia.