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Pankaj- the up and coming Snooker sensation of Bangalore
By M. Shamil Amit
To be crowned the world champion at the age of 19 is not an easy task. And that too at your first attempt is definitely a fairy story. Being shied away by others for the reason of being too small to get into big boots, did not deter this snooker prodigy from achieving his aims. And then with sheer dedication and determination you prove to your critics that they are wrong. Thats how teenage sensation Pankaj Advani became the new World Snooker Champion.

At the tender age of 11 accompaning his brother Shree Advani to the snooker parlour in his home town in Bangalore and being fascinated with the sport his brother plays, Pankaj wanted to give a try himself but he was turned away for being too short for the table. Three years later at the tender age of 14 he created the first sensation when he defeated a former world number Subash Agrawal in a preliminary round game at national billiards championship. From then onwards it has been a story of success for this teenage prodigy.

He went on to clinch the junior nationals in Bangalore and then added three more titles at the Jammu nationals winning the senior and junior snooker and the junior billiards title. Former champion Arvind Savur was quick to recognise his talents and took him under his wings and today the dedication that Pankaj has shown has borne fruit.

Speaking to him at the recently concluded World Billiards Championship which was held in Hyderabad where he was a participant, Pankaj said “I am not carried away just because I am the world snooker champion. I go on with my daily routine and I have all the backing from my family specially my mother and brother”. But he does not like any of his family members watching him play at a tournament.

Having lost his father when he was young his mother has been his inspiration. He has not neglected his academic career, a first year B Com student at Jains College in Bangalore. Speaking of his success at the world snooker championship he said “I went into the championship with a ghost of a chance but I myself was surprised when I had reached the final. But I took the game frame by frame and in the end won the championship by 11-6”.

In the process he became the second youngest player in the world to clinch the world title and the second Indian to do so after the late O.B. Agrawal who won it 1984.
At the world billiards championship he had most of the experienced players like former world champions Geeth Sethi, Praput Chaithanasakun of Thailand, Robby Foldvari of Australia, Ashok Shandilya and many more guessing.

He won all his five round robin matches even outclassing professional player Nalin Patel in his last game and led his group. But he met his waterloo in the pre-quarter finals in U Kuaw Oo of Myanmar, nevertheless Pankaj showed whats in store for the future as he has many years to go.

One of India's respected billiard and snooker player Geeth Sethi who has won seven world titles, four professional and three IBSF world titles would be the happiest man as he had predicted young Pankaj as a future world champion but Sethi would'nt have thought it would be so soon.

Young Pankaj who started with chopsticks and marbles in the backyard of his home town residence just for fun became addicted and has proved to the world, with dedication and determination you can definietly reach the top whatever odds or hardships you have to face.

Like any other teenager of his age Pankaj loves music another field where you come to understand life, and with the hectic schedule ahead for him, of course there will be little time for this young man who will be in the news in the billiards and snooker tournaments around the world in time to come.

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