 Advani, at just 24, has won virtually every billiards title on offer |
But the comprehensive win against Mike Russell, the legendary 41-year-old Englishman, now settled in Qatar, UAE, was the icing on the Indian's cake.
Advani, at just 24, has won virtually every billiards title on offer at the national, Asian and world levels.
The world professional crown was missing in his showcase despite two previous attempts. But it was only a matter of time before this prodigiously talented Bangalorean won it.
To cap it, he is the only Indian to have won the world title in both snooker (2003 IBSF Championship) and billiards. Thus, the sheer weight of his achievements puts Advani in the big league.
Frustration
Yet, he nurses frustration.
"All the awards and accolades are fine with me, but there is no recognition. I have virtually given up on playing professional snooker because of a lack of sponsorship. It is not like I have any particular bias for billiards, but I feel, I can do well in pro snooker too," Advani said.
Billiards, by its very nature, is not a spectacle and lacks global following.
There are only three coloured balls on the table and as many scoring shots that are repetitive. Though the authorities have introduced a points-up format (first to 100 or 150), the 150-year-old game has not taken off.
Advani is well aware of the reality, but having taken to the game as an 11-year-old soon after his family moved from Kuwait to Bangalore in 1990, he courted success almost immediately.
He won his first title defeating his elder brother Shree in the final within months after his 11th birthday.
Training under Arvind Savur, often referred to as the "father of Indian snooker" in Bangalore, Advani rapidly improved as the two developed a deep bonding.
 Advani has proved to be a worthy inheritor of India's billiards legacy |
As regards Advani's billiards career, Savur said: "I cannot say how much more he will improve because there are hardly any billiards tournaments. The more he plays, the better he will get and that's for certain," he observed.
In India, Advani has no worthwhile competition in billiards.
With his idol Geet Sethi, winner of eight World billiards titles (three in amateur category and five as a professional) on the wane and young players preferring snooker to billiards, the field is wide open, but depleted.
Internationally, billiards practitioners are mainly from India and England and the absence of a global spread that snooker enjoys has pegged its popularity.
Worthy inheritor
Though the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India boasts of a thousand-odd registered players, the fact remains that the three-ball game suffers in comparison to snooker that is played with 22 balls of seven different colours, and is a viable career option. Top professional snooker players are millionaires.
Nevertheless, Advani has proved to be a worthy inheritor of India's billiards legacy that began with the late Wilson Jones who won the World titles in 1958 and 1964.
In his wake came Michael Ferreira (1977, 1981, 1983), Geet Sethi (8 times), Manoj Kothari (1990) and Ashok Shandilya (2002).
 Advani says there is no recognition for billiards in India |
While there has been a noticeable increase in the number of youngsters taking to the game in the wake of Sethi's exploits in the last two decades besides profusion of pool parlours, they are more inclined towards snooker than billiards.
Advani too had his first exposure to cue sport when he visited a pool parlour and thus began a lasting love affair with the sport.
Even as a teenager, Advani was noticeably different from others in his age-group not just because he played better.
Impeccably groomed and attired, and deferential, a trait drilled into him by his widowed mother Kajal, he consciously modelled himself on Sethi.
"I wanted to be like Sethi on and off the table," he says. Being modest and a willing learner helped Advani to develop not only as a player but also a personality.
Yet, there remains a question mark over his powers of concentration that is often related to big breaks.
Advani's best break in billiards has been 876. Only three players in modern era belong to the 1,000-break club - Peter Gilchrist from England, but settled in Singapore (1,346), Sethi (1,276) and Michael Ferreira (1,149).
Savur believes that Advani is capable of getting into the club.
"Pankaj can become the greatest billiards player in modern era. It is just a matter of time," he predicts.
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