Pankaj Advani

Pankaj Advani is a world-famous Snooker and Billiard player. He was born in Pune on 24th July 1985. He spent his early childhood in Kuwait. Later he shifted to Bangalore, India. He did his schooling from Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore. He completed his graduation in Commerce from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College. His talent and interest in Billiard were first recognized by his brother Dr. Shree Advani, who himself is a sports psychologist.

His brother introduced him to a former Snooker Champion Arvind Savur and, and he agreed to train Pankaj. Arvind provided him the best training and in a very less duration of time, their efforts gave them the fruitful results. When he was only twelve years, he won his first title. He won several championship and title at district and state level. He won his first National level title; Indian Junior Billiards Championship in 2000. He again won this title in the year 2001 and 2003, but this was just the beginning of a remarkable career.

In 2003, he became the youngest Snooker Champion at the National level after winning India Junior Snooker Championship. He began his International career in 2002 by participating in Asian Billiards Championship which was held in Bangalore, Karnataka. Although he wasn't able to win this tournament with his excellent performance he became the finalist in this Championship. At the international level, he won his first title World Snooker Champion in 2003.

He also bagged IBSF World Billiard Championship which was held at Malta in 2005. By winning this title, he became First Indian who won World title in both Snooker and Billiards. In 2009, he won the WPBSA Billiard Championship by defeating the Former Champion Mike Russell. In 2012, he became the only player who has won Asian Billiards Championship title for the five times. In the same year, he won his World Billiards Championship title for the seventh time. He made his International debut in Snooker field by winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 2003 which was held in China. With this win, Pankaj became the youngest player to win the World title in Snooker.

In 2016, he won Asian 6 - Red Snooker Title. In 2017, he bagged Gold in IBSF World Snooker Championship. His tremendous performances garnered him several National and International awards. In 2003, he won the award of Star Sportsperson of the year. In 2004, he was awarded with Arjun award. In the year 2005, he was honored with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. He was awarded Ekalavya award and Karnataka's highest civilian award; Rajyotsav in 2007. He has also received Padma Shri award in the year 2009. In 2018, he was awarded India's third highest civilian award; Padma Bhushan.