Pankaj Advani is a promising Indian billiards and snooker player. He’s considered to be one of the most prominent players in the game with multiple titles to his name. On 20 February 2025, he added another title to his name by winning the Asian Snooker Championship. The final match was against Amir Sarkhosh of Iran in Qatar.
Advani’s journey began at a young age when he was introduced to the sport by his elder brother and later on received training from the former national champion Arvind Savur. He won his first title at the age of 11 and quickly became a national sensation by becoming the youngest national snooker champion at the age of 17.
With that being said, let’s take a look at his achievements.
Pankaj Advani’s Impressive Achievements
Advani won his first major title at the age of 12 at the Indian Junior Billiards Championship in 2000. He then went on to defend his title twice in 2001 and 2002. He became the second youngest and only second Indian to win the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 2003 and the age of 18. He won the “Grand Double” in both billiards and snooker at the IBSF World Billiards Championships. He’s the only person to have won all 5 billiards tournaments in a single season.
As he grew up, he went on and became one of the most celebrated players in the history of Billiards and Snooker. He owns a total of 28 titles recognized by the International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) he owns 18 World titles in billiards and 10 World titles in Snooker. He also won the Asian title in billiards eight times while also winning four in Snooker.
He is also known for winning multiple national titles as his recent victory at the Indian Snooker Championship marked his 36th overall national title.
In recognition of his contributions to sports, he has received several national honours including the Arjuna Award in 2004, and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2006 which is also India’s highest sporting honour. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009 which is the fourth highest civilian award in India and Padma Bhushan in 2018.
He is noted for being the only player in the world to win world titles in all formats of both billiards and Snooker and holds the record for the highest number of IBSF world championships in both sports.
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