The defeat to India in the ongoing ICC 2019 World Cup left Pakistani sports fans shattered and disillusioned. Since then, the side have performed a lot better but there was still the match against Afghanistan which the side in green would have lost if it wasn't for a horrible decision by Afghan captain Gulbadin Naib.
But Pakistani fans can look to another sport in order to seek consolation for their team's recent disappointments against India. In the IBSF Snooker World Cup that was being played at Doha, the Pakistan team inflicted a 1-3 defeat upon defending champions India in the final.
Indians were in dire straits straightaway when they lost the first two frames. The chances for a Pakistani whitewash seemed good but then India's ace player Pankaj Advani, in partnership with Laxman Rawat, brought India back into the match by claiming the doubles frame. However, Pakistan wrapped up the victory in the next frame to walk away with the title.
India had a tough semi-final as well against Ireland. In that match too, they needed the brilliance of Advani to get them through after the Irish seemed all set to knock out the defending champions. The Indian team of Pankaj Advani and Laxman Rawat found themselves on the cusp of being eliminated when they were 0-2 down in the tie. Both the cueists had lost their individual frames. Then they paired up to win the third frame and two more victories in the next two individual frames to take their team in the final.
However, the final didn't proceed as per plan for the Indians. The defending champions were one of 18 teams that competed in the event. They were divided into six groups with three teams in each one. Two proceeded into the knockouts eventually culminated in the Indo-Pak finals. This was the second edition of the tournament and the winners walked away with US$ 40,000.
