Asian Billiards Champion Devendra Joshi of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board defeated defending champion Alok Kumar 608-599 in a pulsating senior billiards pre-quarter-final encounter to steal the day's honours in the National Billiards and Snooker championship at the Goregaon Sports Club in Mumbai [ Images ] on Thursday.

Pankaj Advani [ Images ] and Geet Sethi had hogged the limelight over the last few days, but today Joshi fashioned one of his most remarkable wins over a formidable opponent.

Alok got off to a dream start with a 173 in only his third visit, which gave him into a substantial 200-points lead. But two visits later, Joshi replied strongly with an impressive 158.

Mumbai-based Joshi, then, set the stage for a humdinger and after a significant 85, he rifled a crucial 248 before missing a simple red in the center pocket that allowed Kumar to return and sustain the pressure.

With Joshi leading 608-522 with merely four minutes to go in the two-hour time-limit contest, Alok, needing 87 for a win, made a final burst with a brilliant cannon, followed by a red pot, to take top-table position.

His effort helped him close in with an unfinished 77 as the beep went off, to give Joshi a thrilling nine-point win.

"It was a quality contest," said Joshi after the nail-biting finish. "I was striking the balls well and thankfully, got my rhythm back. Alok started off very well, but I realised the last minute was probably the longest in my life".

"Alok is a player of high calibre and in those final seconds, while he was on that significant big break, I certainly could not take anything for granted," he added.

"As the current Asian (billiards) champion, Joshi is a very capable player. I think I squandered that initial lead by missing some simple pots and allowed him to come back into the match," said a disappointed Alok.

Others who made it to the quarter-finals were, B Bhaskar of Karnataka [ Images ], Shyam Jagtiani and Ashok Shandilya (both Railways), Pankaj Advani of PSPB, Geet Sethi of Gujarat, Rishabh Thakkar of Maharashtra [ Images ] and Sourav Kothari of Bengal.

Results: Senior pre-quarter-finals

B Bhaskar (Kar) bt Dhruv Sitwala (PSPB) 546-445; Shyam Jagtiani (Rly) bt Siddharth Parekh (Rly) 599-367; Ashok Shandilya (Rly) bt Prem Prakash (TN) 719-454; Devendra Joshi (PSPB) bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 608-599; Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Arun Agrawal (Mah) 1025-331; Geet Sethi (Guj) bt Mohd. Asim (Rly) 1007-338; Rishabh Thakkar (Mah) bt K. Venkatesh (Rly) 644-441; Sourav Kothari (Bng) bt Nitin Kohli (UP) 703-416.