Published: April 26, 2026 at 9:26 pm
Veteran cueist Martin Goodwill of England scored a shock win over reigning champion Sourav Kothari in the final Group ‘A’ league match of the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Carlow, Ireland, on Sunday.
In a match that bordered on mediocrity, the 63-year-old Goodwill registered a nail-biting 276-275 victory to finish his league engagements with an all-win record. Despite the defeat, Kothari too made the knockout pre-quarterfinals with two wins from three matches.
Champ Kothari survives Chulho scare, Advani begins campaign in style at World Billiards
The fluidity Kothari showed in his previous match, when he annihilated Akhilesh Mohan of France 825-40, which included a monumental break of 515, on Saturday night, was missing. He struggled to get going and made far too many errors, allowing the Englishman a free run.
Elsewhere, Pankaj Advani, looking to regain the title, topped Group ‘B’ with three wins, all lopsided victories. In his final match, Advani outplayed South Korea’s Baek Minhu 785-161 with notable runs of 162, 88 and 389 in the 90-minute encounter.
Advani and Sitwala impressive
Other Indians to join Advani and Kothari in the knockout last-16 stage were Dhruv Sitwala, Alok Kumar, Rupesh Shah, Shrikrishna S, Siddharth Parikh and Rafath Habib were the other Indians to make the knockout last-16 stage with two wins apiece. They were scheduled to play their final league matches later in the day.
Dhruv Sitwala has been another impressive Indian cueist on the day
Besides Advani, southpaw Sitwala has been the impressive Indian cueist on view. The Mumbaikar defeated Ireland’s Aonghus McAnally 621-169. He opened with a break of 203 and had further runs of 90 and 133.
Results (Indians unless mentioned): Group A: Martin Goodwill (Eng) 276 (62, 66) beat Sourav Kothari 275 (81, 57); Kothari 825 (515, 212, 66) beat Akhilesh Mohan (Fra) 40.
Group B: Pankaj Advani 785 (162, 88, 389, 56, 60) beat Baek Minhu (Kor) 161 (51); Advani 902 (85, 55, 60, 74, 100, 131, 53, 83, 93, 54, 50) beat Mark Hill (Eng) 78.
Group C: Dhruv Sitwala 621 (203, 90, 133) beat Aonghus McAnally (Ire) 169; Alok Kumar 522 (69, 54) beat Carl-Walter Steiner (Aut) 184.
Group D: Rafath Habib 399 (62) beat Ciaran Doyle (Ire) 95; David Causier (Eng) 1049 (542, 101, 130, 131) beat Subrat Das 149.
Group E: Rupesh Shah 518 (71, 85, 96) beat Peter Tankard (Aus) 211; Robert Hall (Eng) 329 (53, 57, 59, 82) beat Rishabh Thakkar 250 (77).
Group F: Shrikrishna S 552 (137, 84) beat Joe Doheny (Ire) 202; Peter Sheehan (Eng) 833 (152, 223, 291, 62) beat Jagadesh Bhuvaneswaran 171 (61).
Group G: Dhvaj Haria 790 (92, 107, 103, 370) beat Aidan Murray (Ire) 109; Haria 830 (225, 51, 57, 96, 120, 175) beat Srinu Katipogu 98; Mike Russell (Eng) 440 (121, 52, 128) beat Katipogu 189 (60).
Group H: Siddharth Parikh 347 (78) beat Wayne Doyle (Ire) 275 (85, 70); Parikh 517 (92, 63, 93, 75) beat Chenji Ratnavel (IOM) 155.
