Peter Gilchrist calculating a shot during yesterday’s see-saw final against Thailand’s Praput Chaithanasakun, which the Singaporean won 3–2. ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI

By Terrence Voon

PALEMBANG: What Peter Gilchrist thought would be a stroll to the gold medal turned out to be a painful crawl, but in the end, Singapore’s billiards king prevailed.

The Singaporean defended his singles title by defeating his former student Praput Chaithanasakun – but only just.

In a 2½-hour duel that captivated the audience at the OPI Convention Centre, Gilchrist won the best-of-five final 3–2.

A series of careless mistakes, the odd miscue and a faulty scoreboard conspired to dethrone Gilchrist, but the 43-year-old was able to celebrate his second SEA Games gold medal in three outings.

“This means a lot to me, especially for Singapore,” he said. “It’s so different when all your teammates are here. When it’s individual (competitions), I don’t mind losing, but if I lose at the SEA Games, I let the country down.”

The stage seemed set for his coronation yesterday, when the two-time world champion dropped just one frame against two opponents on his way to the final, which was played in the 100-up point format.

And when he raced into a 2–0 lead in the gold-medal match, the result appeared inevitable.

Praput had different ideas. Capitalising on several errors by Gilchrist, the Thai stormed back to level the tie at 2–2. Praput did so with a break of 98 in the fourth frame, and the quality of his cueing was such that Gilchrist rose from his chair to applaud him.

But the Singaporean’s admiration was tinged with exasperation.

Said Gilchrist: “I was very angry. I never get angry. But I was really annoyed with myself for making such careless mistakes.”

His misery was compounded in the final frame, when Praput threatened to complete his comeback. But with the score at 76–32 in his favour, the Thai messed up a routine cannon shot to give Gilchrist a rare visit to the table.

The Singaporean did not look back. A 68-point break was duly compiled, and the small band of Singapore supporters in the arena could finally heave a collective sigh of relief.

“Watching him felt more tense than actually playing in a match myself,” quipped national pool player Chan Keng Kwang, before exchanging a high-five with his compatriot.

Said Gilchrist: “I was playing really well in England before this, and I came here thinking that if someone takes a game off me, they’ve done well.

“Right now, it’s just a relief really.”