Having achieved the only laurel that was missing in his cupboard, newly crowned world professional billiard champion Pankaj Advani
says he can now play in peace. The 24-year-old pulled off an upset win over nine-time champions Mike Russell and looked relieved after winning his first professional billiard title of his career.
“It’s always tough winning any world championship, simply because you have to beat the best in the business,” he said, as he prepared to leave for India. “It’s a great feeling and I can now play in peace because no body would come and tell me that I have not won a professional billiards title,” the soft-spoken cueist said.
Advani became only the second Indian, after Geet Sethi, to win the coveted title and the Khel Ratna awardee said it was a special feeling. “Records are meant to be broken but when you think that you are only the second Indian to achieve it, it makes the feeling special.”
Meanwhile, the baize sport fraternity in India is ecstatic. “It’s a fantastic achievement to beat Mike Rusell in England,” gushed the former three-time world amateur billiards champion Michael Ferreira. “I think he is ready for world professional snooker,” Ferreira said.
“He has achieved today what I predicted earlier. He had beaten top three players, including compatriot Geet Sethi and Mike Russell in his last three games. He was due for it,” said Ashok Shandilya, the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games gold-medallist.
Advani’s coach Arvind Savur was overjoyed. “I have no words to describe my happiness. I was a bit surprised at the result, because Russell is undoubtedly one of the greats of modern era. Though I knew that at some point, Pankaj would beat Russell, it still was a surprise, a pleasant one at that, to me,” said Savur.
National coach Manoj Kothari wasn’t surprised. “It was coming. Advani has been a great player and even in his game against Russell he knew he had to take a huge lead. He managed that with six century and a double-century break.”
{{/usCountry}}National coach Manoj Kothari wasn’t surprised. “It was coming. Advani has been a great player and even in his game against Russell he knew he had to take a huge lead. He managed that with six century and a double-century break.”
{{/usCountry}}“This will garner a lot of interest in the World Snooker Championships we are hosting in November. Moreover, it will give Indians the confidence for future events like the Asian Indoor Games and the Asian Games next year,” said Ravi Tandon, the BSFI vice-president.
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