Pankaj Advani to Lead India in World Billiards Championship
Having won a record 10 World titles, Pankaj Advani will be eyeing another Billiards crown after having pocketed eight in the game. The Bangalorean has also won a World Snooker title and a 6-Red Snooker Championship trophy.
Ace billiards player Pankaj Advani will spearhead the strong Indian contingent of 17 men and two women in the World Billiards Championship in Leeds, commencing on October 20.
Having won a record 10 World titles, Advani will be eyeing another Billiards crown after having pocketed eight in the game. The Bangalorean has also won a World Snooker title and a 6-Red Snooker Championship trophy.
Hailed as a child prodigy when he won his first world title at the age of 18 in China in 2003, Advani, now 29, has come a long way to become India's poster boy of cue sports.
Giving Advani company in Leeds will be some top names from the country including Ashok Shandilya, Alok Kumar, Dhruv Sitwala, Rupesh Shah, Sourav Kothari, Devendra Joshi and Balachandra Bhaskar among others.
The world championship will be divided into two format structures with the traditional 'time format' and the multiple game 150 up format. In the girls division, Neeta Kothari and Umadevi will represent India in the ladies event scheduled between October 27 and 28.
For the first time ever, IBSF World Billiards and WLBSA have come together to stage Women World Billiards Championship, which far more than last four decades was conducted by WLBSA, separately, every April. The Indian women who won the competition over the years are Anuja Thakur in 2006, Chitra Magimairaj in 2007, 2008 and Umadevi in 2012.