The Indian combine of Pankaj Advani and Manan Chandra staged a remarkable recovery to pip Pakistan in the final of the inaugural IBSF snooker Team World Cup.
After being 2-0 down in the best-of-five final played on Saturday night, India found itself in a deeper hole at 0-30 down in the third frame.
Thanks to a well-crafted 39 break from Manan and a classy clearance of the final colours by Advani, the Indian hopes were kept alive with a 72-47 win.
In the fourth frame, even though Advani was in a spot of bother, trailing 1-20 against Babar Masih, he took charge of the proceedings and displayed his mastery once again by clearing the table with a 69 break.
This made India draw parity with Pakistan and it all boiled down to the final frame to determine the first winner of the inaugural event.
Manan and Muhammad Asif found themselves in a see-saw frame, but it was the Indian who changed gears and did most of the scoring with every given opportunity.
Eventually, Manan only needed the green to be in the safe zone leaving his opponent requiring snookers. But with a long pot on the brown, the humbled Pakistani conceded the frame and match. The Indians made a shaky start in the final with Masih scoring a convincing 73-24 win over Manan in the opener.
Asif then went on to steal the second frame from Advani and win it on the black ball 61-56.
With the Indian team 2-0 down, it had to dig deep and win every frame thereafter.