India's billiards and snooker sensation Pankaj Advani is not prepared to give up either of the green baize disciplines that made him world champion to focus on the other. Not at this stage. He wants to win more world titles.
Seven-time world billiards champion Geet Sethi surely must have had the best interests of the 19-year-old in mind when he expressed the view that the youngster has to choose between snooker and billiards if he wants to continue as world champion. But the Bangalore boy has a different point of view.
"As long as I am playing both games equally well and performing at higher levels, I don't feel any need as to why I should not continue (playing both)," Advani, the 2003 World snooker champion and 2005 World billiards champion said.
"If I can win more world titles for my country, I don't think I should sacrifice one game for the other," he added.
However, he saw positives in Sethi's suggestion.
"Yes, this is the call (choosing between billiards and snooker) I have to make. But not at the moment, according to me. I can wait for a couple of years. May be 2-3 years.
"Seventy-five per cent of my game in billiards now is because of snooker. If I leave one game and if I can further improve the other, that's of course is a good thing. But (then) I think both games are complementary to each other."
Explaining why playing both games makes more sense, Advani said, "If you are playing good billiards, I am sure you can play good snooker as a result of that.
"If I am qualifying for snooker events, then why not play them. If I am concentrating only on billiards, I would not have anything to play.... (for months)."
Advani explained why he doesn't intend turning pro.
"All the professional tournaments are held in the UK and they are biased, in favour of the UK players."
Noting that those tournaments are held as knock-outs, he recalled an instance when two Indians were playing and they were deliberately grouped together so that one got eliminated.
"They did it for two Netherlands' players also," he added.
"They do it every single time. It really becomes unfair. I got to go all the way (to England) and one of the Indians gets knocked out."
The only way out, he feels, is making the sport popular and marketing it professionally, especially in India, China and Australia, so that it can go global.
"I am sure billiards and snooker would definitely go global in the years to come," he said. "I will definitely consider playing professional snooker (when it goes global)."
With Advani basking in glory on the world stage, corporate houses have started knocking at his door for possible sponsorship and endorsement deals.
"Very slowly and gradually they are coming in," he informed, adding, "Nothing is finalised as yet."
He said he received three to five enquiries but is not sure whether it's for sponsorship or endorsement.
"I am just considering how to go about it."
He agreed that he may need a management company to handle affairs of those kind.
"I hope that happens soon," he concluded.
Photograph: JEWELLA MIRANDA
