Former champion Devendra Joshi of Maharashtra came back from a 400-point deficit to annex the title, defeating Dhruv Sitwala in the final of the BSNL-LIC Senior National Billiards championship in Chennai on Friday night.

In the four-hour contest, Joshi was not in his elements in the first two hours. But he clawed his way back with a phenomenal 479 break to stay in contention before regaining the title after a gap of five years.

Chennai again turned out to be a happy hunting ground for the 39-year-old Joshi as he had last won the title here in the 2001 nationals.

Dhruv started with a 337 break, to gain a big lead, before Joshi responded with 180.

Joshi, working as Deputy Manager in BPCL [Get Quote], Mumbai, was at the receiving end as he trailed 450-848, when he was forced to draw deep from his resources to nose ahead of his rival. The break of 479 brought the confidence back on Joshi, who missed a red cannon at 1023-976.

- UNI