'Time format win was the best'

National champion Pankaj Advani, who won the Points and Time format titles in the IBSF World Billiards Championships in Malta, said he rates the Time format triumph as his best.

"Any World championship or title would be high in my books. In the terms of quality, I performed very well in the Time format as compared to the other two world titles -- the Points format and the snooker World championship," said Advani, who arrived in Mumbai from Malta to a rousing welcome on Tuesday.

"In terms of quality of the game and in terms of performance of the game, I would rate the Time format performance as the best," said the 19-year old Bangalore cueist, who is the first player to complete the grand billiards double.

This is only the second time that the Time and Points format championships were held simultaneously; Advani created history by winning both the crowns.

He said the Points format semi-final against Australia's Robby Foldvari was the turning point for him.

"The match against Robby was the turning point in the whole tournament, because had I lost to Foldvari, I may not have won the Time format as well.

"I was 4-0 down in the semi-final, but then I took the second frame to make it 4-2. From that time I saw Robby crack a bit and even I was also not playing extraordinary well. But then I took my chances and knew that I had to bide my time and play the waiting game and I came out the winner."

He also paid rich tributes to compatriot and seven-time World champion Geet Sethi, who he beat 2242-1717 in the Time format final.

"Geet is a terrific player; such a formidable opponent. He is a seven-time World champion and, being a player myself, I know how difficult it is to win so many titles. And to play Geet in the six-hour final was not easy since he has been playing very well."

"I beat him in the semi-finals of the nationals, but then I lost to him in the Asian billiards qualifiers at the Chembur Gymkhana in Mumbai in the Time format, which obviously meant that he is coming back.

"He has again started making those breaks of 300 and 400, which he also did in the beginning of the World championships," said Advani, who also is the first cueist after Malta's Paul Mifsud to win the IBSF World billiards and snooker crowns. He won the snooker title in China in 2003.

"I consider myself lucky. Everyone has the game to boast about, everyone has the game to win the Asian titles and the World championships. It is just that the ball favour or the extra roll of the ball that matters. Maybe, because of working hard and playing well, and participating in lot of tournaments, has helped a lot.

"In fact the Maharashtra association has really been of great help and has done more that its bit to promote the game of snooker and billiards," said Advani, who will be appearing for his second year Bachelor of Commerce examinations next month.

He said, currently, his achievements in billiards rate higher than in snooker, having won both the world titles.

He also said he would consider turning professional only once snooker becomes global and goes out of England.

"The game is only played in England now and you can see that all the top ten players are from England.

"It's not easy to make it big in England. You have to stay there in England for 6-8 months and play in the professional snooker circuit. The conditions are different; the tables are different, which people don't understand. But if the game goes global, that is the day I will become professional," he stressed.

Advani said the Asian snooker qualifiers, which will be held in Mumbai in May, is his next event followed by the main tournament in June in the city.

PHOTOGRAPH: Jewella C Miranda