Table of Contents
EARLY LIFE
- Born in Pune on 24 July 1985, Pankaj spent the first five years of his life in Kuwait with his parents; Arjan (who sadly passed away when Pankaj was just six years old), his mother Kajal and elder brother Shree.
- The family migrated to Bangalore at the onset of the Gulf War and has resided here ever since.
EARLY LIFE
- Pankaj and Shree studied at the Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore and both went on to become Head Boys of the school.
- Given that Pankaj used to occasionally miss important school functions & events such as Annual Day or Sports Day due to his tournaments.
- A delicate balancing act proven by the fact that despite being busy competing at the 2002 Asian Games in Korea, Pankaj was able to pass with distinction in both the ICSE and ISC board exams. He now holds a Bachelor Degree in Commerce from SBM Jain College.
GENIUS
- He became interested at the age of ten, courtesy his brother Shree, whom he would accompany to the snooker parlour close to their house every day after school.
- For a few weeks, he just watched Shree play with his friends, then one day he begged to be allowed to play. On his very first attempt, he pocketed the red ball and from then on, he was hooked on to the game.
- The following year, he won his first State title by beating his brother-cum-mentor in the finals.
GENIUS
- Such are the ways of the Power of Attraction that world-renowned Snooker wizard Arvind Savur spotted his talent at a young age and took him under his wing.
- He too was pleasantly surprised by what was to come when Pankaj went on to win the Men’s World Snooker Championship in China at the age of 18, the first of his 21-World Titles.
TITLES
- Advani won the 2014 IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championship, on his debut in that discipline.
- As such he is currently the only player ever to win world titles in both the long and short formats of snooker (15-red standard, and 6-red) and both formats of English billiards (time and point).
- Advani is also India’s first world champion in 6-red snooker. Since 2014, Advani has focused solely on English billiards.
TITLES
- Pankaj went on to win his first-ever title at the age of 12 and went on to set several records at the state and national levels.
- Pankaj Advani won the Indian Junior Billiards Championship for three years – 2000, 2001 and 2003. In 2003, Advani had set a record for himself by becoming the Youngest National Snooker Champion.
- In 2003, Pankaj Advani won the World Amateur Snooker Championship and in 2005, he won the IBSF World Billiards Championship, becoming the only Indian to do so.
TITLES
- Pankaj Adavni won the World Billiards Championship in 2012 at the age of 27 following which he became the youngest person to win all the World titles in English Billiards.
- The list doesn’t end here, in 2012, Pankaj Advani became the first player to win 5 Asian Billiards Championship titles.
- Pankaj Advani has a total of 10 World Championship titles including a Team Championship held in Glasgow. He also holds a hat-trick of titles in World, Asian and Indian Billiards Championships simultaneously.
AWARDS
- In recognition of his achievements, the Government of India has bestowed several awards upon Advani: the Arjuna Award in 2004, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2006, Padma Shri in 2009 and Padma Bhushan in 2018
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