The Hindu : Sport / Billiards & Snooker : Pankaj Advani triumphs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 22, 2005

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Pankaj Advani triumphs

By Geet Sethi

MALTA, MARCH 21. Playing explosive billiards, 19 year and 8 months old Pankaj Advani defeated this writer 2242-1717 in a six hour final which concluded late on Sunday night here at the Dolmen Hotel in Malta to become the youngest winner of the IBSF World Billiards Time Format Championship.

What a fantastic time it has been for this unassuming cueist from Bangalore.

In November 2003 he won the world snooker at the age of 18 becoming only the second Indian cueist after the late OB Agrawal to win the IBSF world snooker title.

In January this year, he was unable to win the national snooker crown but made amends by winning the national billiards title with a 4 point victory over Devendra Joshi in the final.

Shortly afterwards, he participated in two qualifying billiard tournaments at Chembur Gymkhana where he finished no. 2 in both events and then won his first international billiards title at the PYC Gymkhana in Pune when he overcame the challenge of Thailand's Asian Gold medal winner C. Praprut.

Ten days later he arrived in Malta and added two world titles in the space of ten days to become the undisputed prince of world billiards.

Advani reached the final with a hard fought victory over the gutsy Ashok Shandilya in which he performed with great courage in the last one hour of the four hour contest after trailing by a few points.

In fact the ability to find calmness when he is trailing seems to be the one significant quality which has assisted Advani time and time again in the last two years ever since he overcame a 1-4 deficit in the last 32 in the world snooker in China in 2003. The 5-4 victory over Australia's Robby Foldvari in the semifinal of the point format tournament last week was another stirring reminder of this rare ability to retain composure under severe stress. In the six hour final on Sunday, Advani trailed for a short while before establishing a 300 point lead at the end of the four hours of play. Whilst being mildly comforting, the 300 point advantage was in no way conclusive with two hours of play left.

However in compiling breaks of 334, 157, 208, 261 & 186 in the space of nine visits, Advani provided overwhelming proof of his authenticated ability and more importantly stretched his lead to just under 1000 points with one hour to go. It was a display which punctured whatever hope I may have had of making a come back in the match. He had already constructed breaks of 122, 132, 114 and 182 in the first two hours of the match which, added to the burst of inspired scoring in the penultimate hour proved his caliber, consistency and composure at the highest platform of the sport.

My response to Advani's relentless accumulation of points was both feeble and unconvincing. In a six hour final one gets enough chances but I was unable to convert the numerous opportunities into sizeable contributions. Breaks of 146, 107, 159, 180 and 168 are not enough ammunition to arrest the kind of prolific scoring which my opponent was exhibiting.

For Advani it is a time to enjoy the fruits of a yet another fantastic year in the sport. In 2003 he proved his class in snooker.

Clearly 2005 will the defining year for his arrival into the top league of world class Billiard players.

It is interesting to note, that with his win on Sunday he has already collected three world titles - and he is not yet 20. One wonders how many world titles he will end up with in a sport which allows a player to be at one's competitive best for at least two decades.

The tradition established by the late Wilson Jones when he first won the IBSF world title in 1956 lives on.

In a long line of world champions which our country has produced starting with Jones, Michael Ferreira, Manoj Kothari, Ashok Shandilya, OB Agrawal and this writer, Advani is the yet another entrant into this elite group.

He is however, extra special because firstly he has performed at the highest level in both snooker and in billiards and secondly he has won three world titles at the age of 19 years and 8 months.

Wonder how many other sportspersons from anywhere in the world and from any sporting discipline can boast of such an achievement?

The result: (Final): Six hours:

Pankaj Advani bt Geet Sethi 2242 (122, 132, 114, 182, 334, 157, 208, 261, 186) - 1717 (146, 107, 159, 180, 168)

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