Pankaj Advani

This article is about the snooker player. For the film director, see Pankaj Advani (director).

Pankaj Arjan Advani

PadamShree Pankaj Advani
Born	July 24, 1985 (1985-07-24) Pune, Maharashtra, India
Sport country	India
Professional	2003–present
Highest break	136 (Snooker) 876 (Billiards)
Tournament wins
World Champion	billiards and snooker

Medal record
Competitor for India
Men's English billiards
Asian Games
Gold	2006 Doha	Singles
Gold	2010 Guangzhou	Singles
Asian Indoor Games
Bronze	2009 Ho Chi Minh City	Singles

Pankaj Arjan Advani (Sindhi: पंकज आडवाणी, lang-ur; Kannada: ಪಂಕಜ್ ಅಡ್ವಾಣಿ) (born 24 July 1985 in Pune) is an Indian Billiards and Snooker player. A winner of seven World Titles in Billiards and Snooker, he is considered to be the one of the best Billiards Player India has produced. In 2005, he set a world record by becoming the first player to complete a grand double by winning both the points format as well as the time format titles in the IBSF World Billiards Championship, Malta. For his commendable performance as a Billiards and Snooker player, and his invaluable contribution to the nation through the laurels he brought home he has been honoured with a number of prestigious awards, having been bestowed the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009, The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, which was conferred on him in 2006 and the Arjuna Award in 2004.

Early Life

Pankaj Advani was born on July 24, 1985 in Pune. Pankaj spent his initial years in Kuwait before moving to Bangalore. He received his education at the Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore. He received training in snooker from former national Snooker champion Arvind Savur.

At the age of 10 his acumen for snooker came to the notice of Arvind Savur at the Karnataka State Billiards Association Hall. He won his first ever title at the age of 12 and went on to set several records at the state and national levels. In the year 2000 he won his first Indian Junior Billiards Championship title and then went on to win it again in 2001 and 2003. In 2003 he won the India Junior Snooker Championship which made him the youngest National Snooker champion.

Billiards Career

Pankaj made his debut at the Asian Billiards Championship 2002, held at Bangalore where he finished as a finalist. Thereafter, he went on to win the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Championship 2003 in China at the age of 18 years. He also won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in 2005 at Qawra, Malta. He is the only Indian to have won the world title in both snooker and billiards and only the second cueist after Malta's Paul Mifsud to have won both the billiards and snooker world titles. In the same year, he achieved a "grand double" by winning both the points and timed formats at the IBSF World Billiards Championships 2005, and he repeated the same feat at the 2008 Championships held in Bangalore.

He is also the youngest Asian to have won the IBSF titles for a record six times. Pankaj Advani also remains the only person to have won all 5 Billiards tournaments in a season, a feat he achieved by winning the Junior National Championship, Senior National Championship, Asian Billiards Championship, World Billiards Championship (point format) and World Billiards Championship (time format).

Pankaj Advani won his first world professional championship title in 2009. He won the World Professional Billiards title held at Leeds in 2009, registering a comprehensive win against the defending and nine-time champion Mike Russell. Advani beat the defending champion 2030-1253 after having an 800-plus lead at the break. He became the second Indian to win the title after Geet Sethi. The following year, compatriot Dhruv Sitwala defeated defending champion Pankaj Advani in the quarter final stage of the World Professional Billiards Championship, 2010. Pankaj advanced to the semi -final stage of the 2011 Championship after defeating Devendra Joshi but was then defeated by Mike Russell at the semi -final stage.

Titles

• 2010
  • Asian Games Gold Medallist - English Billiards Singles
  • Asian Billiards Championship

• 2009
  • World Professional Billiards Championship
  • Asian Billiards Championship

• 2008
  • IBSF World Billiards Championship (both formats - timed and points)
  • Asian Billiards Championship

• 2006
  • Asian Games Gold Medallist - English Billiards singles

• 2005
  • IBSF World Billiards Championship (both formats - timed and points)
  • Asian Billiards Championship
  • India Billiards Championship
  • India Junior Snooker Championship
  • India Junior Billiards Championship
  • WSA Challenge Tour

• 2004
  • WSA Challenge Tour

• 2003
  • IBSF World Snooker Championship
  • Indian Junior Billiards Championship
  • Indian Junior Snooker Championship

• 2001
  • Indian Junior Billiards Championship

• 2000
  • Indian Junior Billiards Championship

• 1999
  • Pot Shot All India Triangular Championship
  • Pot Shot non-medallist Championship

• 1998
  • Karnataka State Junior Snooker Championship

• 1997
  • 27th BS Sampath Memorial Handicap Snooker Championship
  • T.A. Selvaraj Memorial Billiards Championship
  • Karnataka Stage Junior Snooker Championship

Awards and honors

• Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, 2009
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour, 2005-06
• Rajyotsava Award, Karnataka's highest civilian award, 2007.
• Karnataka's 'Kempegowda Award" in 2007.
• Vision of India's "International Indian" Award in 2005.
• Senior Sportsperson of the Year 2005
• The Sports Writers' Association of Bangalore's
• The Bangalore University ' Sportsperson of the Year, 2005
• The Hero India Sports Award (HISA) in 2004
• The Rajeev Gandhi Award in 2004
• The Arjuna Award in 2004
• The Indo-American Young Achiever's Award - 2003
• The Sports Star Sportsperson of the Year 2003.

External links

• Pankaj Advani's bio at BilliardsForum