He is a 25-time International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) world champion. And, he is only 38. Pankaj Advani, the cue sports star, whose iconic status as a sportsperson cuts across disciplines. In town for Pro-Am 2023 and Bengal Snooker League, Pankaj chatted with t2 about what he loves about our city, the need to take cue sports to more people and how married life is treating him.
How did the tournament go?
Great actually. We won the team championship (Bengal Snooker League), which is played in the premier league format where there are team owners who bid for the players in an auction. There were eight teams. I was representing the City Knights.
What do you really enjoy about Calcutta?
The hospitality is second to none. Whenever I have visited Calcutta, the organisers, players and team members have all taken care of me. At least, that’s been my experience.... It’s been a long time since I travelled. I have been in Bangalore for quite some time and that’s why I was looking forward to this trip because it was a good change for me.
I love the food in Calcutta. I think it’s probably the best in India. I am a vegetarian, but even as a vegetarian, there are so many options, right from Italian to Chinese to your chaats and street food.... We went to Pa Pa Ya on Park Street and really enjoyed the Asian food over there.
What do you think of the cue sports culture in Calcutta?
If you go back to the history of the sport, Calcutta is an important city for cue sports, in the sense that the main office of The Billiards and Snooker Federation of India was here for a very long time. Then, obviously, you had so many top players who came from Calcutta. The city also has a vibrant club culture and they have billiards tables in all the clubs, so many members end up playing the game, recreationally. Then they want to compete also, say in a tournament like the Bengal (Snooker) League, even if it has some of the top players of the country playing and they might not have a chance or they team up with one of the top players (for a pro-am event) and see how it goes. There are so many inter-club events... and, I do see a lot of youngsters from across different clubs participate and some of them have improved quite a bit now when I saw them in this tournament.
Which Indian city do you think has a strong culture for cue sports?
I think it has to be Mumbai now. Of late, they have produced some young players and have always had the more seasoned and experienced players who have represented India and won medals for the country. They have the Mumbai League and since I am an honorary member of The Cricket Club Of India, I have played a couple of matches representing them. The League and the club culture has helped in producing some very competent and highly-skilled players who are now competing at the national and international level, and from different clubs, across Mumbai.
You have won everything that any player dreams of and are such a huge icon. How are you navigating your career at this point? Are you picking and choosing the tournaments you want to play in?
I am definitely picking and choosing events. I don’t want to play in every single tournament like, probably I used to do when I was 25-30. Not to say that I am old (laughs), but I just feel like, to keep the motivation levels up, I like my breaks in between and preparing. This tournament came at a time when there was hardly anything on the calendar. If it’s an event that helps in the promotion of cue sports or getting a new fan base, I am definitely up for it.
I don’t like to play too many events back to back, unless it is absolutely necessary for my ranking or where I have to represent the country.
What more are you seeking?
I am grateful that I have been able to achieve most of my goals, in terms of titles and victories, at an early age. I won my first world title in China when I was 18. I think, now, I want to see the sport grow in India and that’s my next objective. Of course, I have to maintain a fine balance between going out and being an ambassador of the sport and pitching for the sport and trying to get in sponsors and get in a couple of big events that would probably be game-changers for the game in India, for cue sports. At the same time, I cannot lose focus on my preparation as a player.
So, that’s my next goal. I want to be involved in the process of making cue sports more accessible and visible to all sports lovers in India. And, the next step for that to happen is to get this on television.
You have spoken about an IPL format to popularise the game...
Every player believes that now. We need it now more than ever. We should be doing it as soon as possible in the right way and put in some thought into the format, financials, marketing and what would best suit to make it spectator friendly and bring out that excitement and fun angle and at the same time, make it easy for sports lovers to understand.
India has been essentially cricket-dominated, but in the last decade, a lot of other disciplines have come into prominence, say badminton. Why do you think cue sport is lagging behind and only a handful of players are household names?
There is no dearth of talented players and there are players who have won major tournaments internationally...
But people don’t know about them...
Correct... this is a question that probably the federation needs to answer as to why cue sports hasn’t been able to garner that kind of support and get those accolades and the visibility that it truly deserves. And, I believe there is only one way to now go about it... is to just introduce a short hit-and-run kind of format, which may not really capture the essence of the sport but at least it’ll provide excitement to the spectators and give people an idea of what cue sports really is and how it’s played and the skills involved but in a short and crisp manner.
What is the secret to a long and successful career?
I can give you all the cliched answers that you can be disciplined and hardworking, but I have always been a student of the game. There is no end to learning and it’s not only learning from the best players and the champions you want to emulate. Of course, they have a lot to offer, but also from a player who could be a club-level player and you could see something that you probably don’t have in your arsenal. I am always keeping my eyes and ears open, not only in the game but also off the table. We as a human race are so diverse in our beliefs, cultures and outlooks. So, if we have only one way of looking at things, which is our own reality, then how would we see the world as other people see it? To just pick up the good parts of that and imbibe that.... I believe to have a long career and be on the top and reinvent yourself constantly, in the sport and off it too.... I have started doing a little more social media to get people a little more involved in cue sports. Those are the things I want to do also. There’s a lot more profiling and branding I am looking into. Now, if my name and the sport go together, nothing like it. Before me, I would like to see the sport get its due and become a more accessible and accepted sport in the country.
How is married life treating you?
It’s been good. It’s been hectic (too). She (Saniya Shadadpuri) also travels and I also travel. I am a lot busier than I ever was. My time is of really the essence. I have obviously learnt how to compartmentalise my personal life and professional life and learn a little bit more about time management (laughs).
The latest thing is that I have been doing my meditation for the last six-eight months, from the start of this year and that has helped me be a lot calmer, not that I have been a hyper person or someone who gets excited too fast, but it has helped me accept things the way they are. You can show people from the outside that you are calm, but if you are not calm from within, it’s going to eat you up. I have become calmer from within.
