I Proved that i can win both world titles at the same time, says Pankaj Advani
India's ace cueist Pankaj Advani has expressed his delight upon becoming the first player to win both IBSF World Billiards and Snooker titles at the same time. He further insisted that his next target is to bag the elusive Olympic gold if and when the chance arises.
Pankaj Advani added yet anotherĀ silverware in IBSF World Tournament to his illustrious careerĀ last month, taking his tally to a staggering 18 trophies and firmly establishing himself as the best in the game at present.
"I am so glad that November happened that I could prove it to myself before proving it to anyone else from the outside world or to the haters, I proved to myself that I can win both world titles at the same time which obviously has never been done before," said Advani during a recent interview with India Today.
The two-time world champion, Advani, has won gold at the 2006 and 2010 Asian games and is looking forward toĀ making his country proudĀ at the grandest stage of all - the Olympics. However, cue sports have been given the blind eye by Olympic governing bodies but efforts are in progress by the authoritative bodies to get them a place at the 2024 games. But Advani insists that recognition at the Olympic level is not something that he craves for and assures that consistency is key for him when it comes to assessing a sport.
"It will be great to have cue sports at quadrennial events but at the same time, I have always maintained that Olympics is not the be-all of sports. I think it is about consistency and if a player is consistently achieving year after year then that for me is a bigger achievement. I am not trying to take anything away from our Olympic medalists or any other quadrennial event winners because I feel Asian Games & Olympics are also very very important as it is a huge stage and comes once in 4 years.Ā
But there should be no discrimination between quadrennial and annual events. In fact, when I met the sports minister I actually explained this to him that it is not our fault that a particular sportĀ is not there at the Olympics. It is like if you are working in a movie and as an
He further goes on to say that finding the right balance between spending funds on international events and promoting growth at the
"I think it is important to host international events in every sport because it inspires a lot of youngsters and they can actually get to witness the standard at which a particular game is played, but at the same time I feel that the funds first need to be utilised to develop grass-root levels and to actually develop our own players and make them reach a certain level where then they can compete internationally," said Pankaj.
