Pankaj Advani’s bid to become the first player to win both the Asian titles in Billiards and Snooker in the same year came to an end as he went down 3-6 to China’s Lv Haotian in the final of of Asian Snooker Championship in Doha on Friday, reported PTI.

The defeat in the final also meant that Advani could not complete a career Grand Slam in cue sport. A victory would have made him the only player in history to win all Majors in two sports at all levels and across all formats.

The Chinese player took the first frame before Advani drew parity. This was the only time the two finalists were on equal terms. From there, Haotian was on song as he scored heavily to keep the sixteen-time world champion Indian at bay. At 1-3 and just before the interval, Advani made a comeback with two well-crafted breaks to give himself a chance at a recovery.

But at 2-3, Advani was yet again kept away from the table by his Chinese opponent. At 3-4, Haotian won the next two frames narrowly to clinch the Asian snooker title. Advani lost 32-95(65), 75(58)-31, 43-69, 24-65(57), 78-0, 6-102(102), 61-48, 48-59, 69-71.

India’s top cueist has won all the major events in the two sports – Nationals, Asian and World Championships in both Billiards and Snooker and in both the long and short formats. However, the 15-red Asian Snooker is the one title that has eluded Advani.

This is the first silver Advani has won this season, having won gold medals at the National Championships of Billiards, 6-red Snooker and 15-red Snooker, as well as the Asian Billiards Championship earlier.

Advani will now prepare to defend his Asian 6-red Snooker title next month in Kyrgyzstan.