Defending champion Pankaj Advani on Saturday started his journey in style defeating compatriot Prem Prakash in the World Billiards championship's time format.

Pankaj, who annexed the point format of the championship on Friday, outperformed Prakash 1735-703 in the league opener.

Veteran Geet Sethi, who lost to Pankaj in points format, proved too good for his Ireland opponent Aidan Murray winning at 1939-167.

The other Indians, who won their opening league matches include Arvind Savur, Devendra Joshi and Sourav Kothari. Arvind Savur defeated Wayne Carey of New Zealand 823-623, Devendra Joshi got past Darren Taylor (New Zealand) 1477-332 and Sourav Kothari overcame Philip Mumford of England 1113-432.

Another Indian Dhruv Sitwala defeated Vietnam's Thanh Binh Nguyen 1025-647.