CCI Snooker Classic 2025: Ishpreet Singh Chadha, Pankaj Advani To Clash For CCI Snooker Crown
Mumbai’s professional snooker player Ishpreet Singh Chadha and Asian and National snooker champion Pankaj Advani, both representing PSPB, will battle it out for supremacy in what promises to be a mouth-watering best-of-13-frame final of the Rs 13.5 lakh CCI Snooker Classic 2025, an all-India tournament.
In semi-final encounters, Ishpreet defeated Kamal Chawla of Railways 6-3 in a first semi-final played at the CCI’s Wilson Jones billiards hall on Saturday.
Later, in the evening defending champion Pankaj aiming to complete a hat-trick of title victories put a grinding halt to the dream winning streak of qualifier Faisal Khan of Railways by recording a 6-1 win in the second semi-final. India’s most accomplished cueist Pankaj having won 27 world billiards and snooker titles was in complete control and cruised to a 88-8, 70-49, 74-42, 63-14, 31-71, 74-0, and 71-22 verdict.
In the contest between two former National champions, the Khar Gymkhana cueist Ishpreet, as usual, was sharp and positive. He boldly went for his shots and with clever strategies dominated the match. In contrast, the Madhya Pradesh player Chawla started with a flourish winning the first frame to take the lead. But, thereafter, Kamal’s confidence levels dropped and hesitancy crept into his game as he struggled with his shots and missed some regulation pots, especially in the third and fourth frames.
Ishpreet made the most of the opportunities to stitch together small tidy breaks to accumulate the points. In the ninth frame, Ishpreet showed his class with a timely clearance to compile a break of 32 points and went on to secure a satisfying 68-75, 87-46, 64-58, 67-8, 64-57, 41-82, 78-19, 33-72, and 54-40 victory and a shot at the coveted crown.
Results – Semi-finals:
Pankaj Advani (PSPB) beat Faisal Khan (Rlys) 6-1 (88(78)-8, 70-49, 74-42, 63(53)-14, 31-71(66), 74-0, 71-22).
CCI to fete Ishpreet
The Cricket Club of India will be honouring Ishpreet by presenting him with a cheque of Rs 1.47 lakhs for creating history at the club. In his quarter-final match against Dilip Kumar on Thursday, Ishpreet meticulously constructed the maximum break of 147 in the fourth frame during his 5-0 triumph. The felicitation will be held during the prize distribution function after the finals.
Sanju Kothari, Chairman, CCI Billiards Sub-Committee confirmed that CCI will he awarding Ishpreet with the cash prize of Rs 1.47 lakhs. “Ishpreet made us at CCI proud by making the maximum break of 147 on our table during the CCI Classic Snooker 2025. It’s befitting to felicitate him for his glorious feat,” Kothari mentioned.