Pankaj Advani is Associated to Which Sport
Pankaj Arjan Advani, also known as the Prince of Pune, is an Indian billiards and professional snooker player. Pankaj Advani was born on 24 July 1985 to a Sindhi family in Pune, India. Advani spent his initial years in Kuwait before moving to Bangalore, India.
Pankaj Advani Biography
Education
He received his education at the Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore and completed his bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College.
Early Career
At the age of 10 his acumen for snooker came to the notice of Arvind Savur after being introduced to the sport by his elder brother Dr. Shree Advani who is a noted Sport & Performance Psychologist. He won his first ever title at the age of 11 and went on to set several records at the state and national levels. In the year 2000 he won his first Indian Junior Billiards Championship title and then went on to win it again in 2001 and 2003. In 2003 he not only won the Indian Junior Snooker and Billiards Championship, he also won the senior snooker champions which made him the youngest National Snooker champion at age 17.
Some of his biggest achievements and Awards
Pankaj Advani has won a total of 27 International Billiards and Snooker Federation titles, the highest of any individual across billiards and snooker. In total,he has won 24 ISBF titles, 11 Asian titles, and 34 national titles, making him one of the most highly decorated athletes from India.
He is the only player to have won all five billiards tournaments in a season. He was also the youngest person to reach all the World titles in English Billiards a record 8 times. Advani is the only person to win the world title in all formats of billiards and snooker.
He became the second cueist to hold both the billiards and snooker world titles at the same time, and the only Indian to do so.
He won his first ISBF title, the World Snooker Championship 2003 in China, at just 18 years of age. His first-ever title came at the age of 12 when he lifted the Indian Junior Billiards Championship in 2000 at the age of 12.
Advani has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honour, in 2018, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sports honour, and the Arjuna Award.