New Delhi: Fresh from his recent World 6-Reds Snooker Championship triumph, ace cueist Pankaj Advani feels the time is right to make a push for billiards and snooker to be included in the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
"I think in both billiards and snooker we have been doing well in the last three four years. I think there needs to be a push for them to be included in the Commonwealth and Asian Games. We were there in the Asian Games but somehow this time we are not on the list of the Asian Games in South Korea, which is disappointing," Advani told PTI after landing in the capital.
Back from Egypt where he won the World 6-Reds Snooker Championship on Sunday, the 27-year-old cueist along with national and Asian billiards champion Sourav Kothari and Mumbai player Dhruv Sitwala were given a rousing welcome by the media and the Delhi Billiards and Snooker Association (DBSA) team including secretary Ravi Tandon.
English billiards and snooker were part of the Bangkok (1998), Busan (2002), Doha (2006) and Ghuanghzou (2010) Asian Games in recent times.
Pankaj, who is an Arjuna Awardee, was the proud winner of the gold medal in the 2006 and 2010 edition and he still has a strong urge to compete in these Games.
"But with all our achievements, we should be part of more Asian and Commonwealth Games because we are a serious competitive sport. I don't know what happened to the bid that we are going to make it to the 2019 edition, I am not following it," said the Padmashree winner.
Advani, who has won seven world titles in billiards and two in snooker, created history by becoming the only player in the world to win world title in the longer and the shorter format of billiards and snooker after he won the IBSF 6-Reds event.
The Banglorean cueist said it really takes effort to juggle with two sports and formats.
"I think that's one area where I have really been able to do well. Without boasting, I would admit that only I know how difficult it is to switch from billiards to snooker or from one format to another," said Advani who is in the capital to attend a couple of events.
"Normally people specialise in one sport and here I am trying to juggle with two. I can definitely tell you that it's not as simple as it looks. The technique is totally different when you are playing billiards and then you suddenly switch to snooker. But I enjoy the challenge," Advani, India's poster boy of cue sports said.
The Khel Ratna awardee is excited about India's only ranking event, slated for October this year but said that Snooker needs to move out of UK to thrive in other countries.
"India Open is just one ranking event in the whole professional calendar. So yes, obviously if there are Indian players who are not playing in England and suddenly will have to play one tournament which is in their country. If there are players from India playing in England for at least three to four months in a year then obviously the results are going to be better," Advani opined.
"At the moment it's still very English because all the qualifying rounds of the major events are held in UK. If the sport spreads to different parts of the world like it has spread to China - ,India , Thailand, Australia and these countries having more tournaments then you will have players from these nations doing much better," he argued.
Turning humble to the question of young players going the 'Pankaj Advani' way, Advani said it's good to see young snooker players getting their due.
"Everyone is working hard for their own success. I will not take credit for anyone else. It's good if they are getting inspired. I mean if people are taking up snooker or billiards and performing well then it's totally to their own credit," Advani said.
"Obviously when you have international achievers in snooker over the last so many years, especially now in the last 3-4 years Indians are coming up with strong performances at the international level," he said.
Prod him about sports other than cue sports, Advani, who is a Germany fan, is keenly following the ongoing FIFA World Cup with a close eye on his favourite soccer star Miroslav Klose.
The champion cueist also loves to watch tennis and is hooked to Wimbledon.
With his interests ranging from football to tennis, India would hope that the star continues to keep his eye on the potting ball and bring more laurels to the country.
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