Rupesh Shah upsets Sethi, progresses into pre-quarters

Rupesh Shah caused a major upset at the World Billiards Championship when he defeated seven-time world champion and compatriot Geet Sethi in the `Long up` format and advanced into the pre-quarters of the event, on Tuesday.

Leeds: Rupesh Shah caused a major upset at the World Billiards Championship when he defeated seven-time world champion and compatriot Geet Sethi in the `Long up` format and advanced into the pre-quarters of the event, here on Tuesday.

Shah got the better of Sethi 750-536 and was joined by four other Indians who made the Ronud of 16. From the traditional time format, this year championship saw the introduction of `Long up` format, with 400 points for the league stages, 500 for round of 32, 750 for last 16 and 1000 for quarters. Point Format finalist Alok Kumar overwhelmed countrymate Dhruv Sitwala 750-458 to progress into the next round. While B Bhaskar defeated Robert Hall of England 750-536, Sourav Kothari and Ashok Shandilya downed fellow nationals Arun Agrawal (750?448) and Dhvaj Haria (750?609). Results (India matches) Rupesh Shah bt Geet Sethi 750-536, Alok Kumar bt Dhruv Sitwala 750-458, B Bhaskar bt Robert Hall (Eng) 750-536, Sourav Kothari bt Arun Agrawal 750-448, Ashok Shandilya bt Dhvaj Haria 750-609.