Pankaj Advani to return to his first love billiards after pro season
The news would surely come as music to the ears of Advani's followers.
New Delhi: Ever since Pankaj Advani ventured into the glitzy world of professional snooker, his first love billiards took a back seat, but the eight-time world champion has vowed to play more of the traditional format after the end of pro season in April.
"I am missing billiards. Like I have always said billiards is my wife and snooker a mistress. I would like to feature in some more billiards tournaments that I played in last one and a half years," Advani told PTI.
"I am happy that I am playing so much of snooker but I would like to return back to billiards. For a couple of years, it's been only snooker for me, but now I would like to play billiards more. It would be like playing in selective, major tournaments and skipping a few," he said.
The news would surely come as music to the ears of Advani's followers and former players of the game, who have always wished to see more of him in billiards. The fact that Advani's seven world titles out of eight have come in billiards speaks volume about his mastery over the traditional format.
Advani's pressing professional engagements on the European circuit led to him missing the World Billiards Championship in Leeds in 2013, apart from skipping a few other billiards event.
His love for snooker led to murmurs that Advani's priority has shifted from billiards. But the 28-year-old would look to strike a balance between snooker and billiards after the end of pro season in April.
"I have seen enough of pro circuit. I myself experienced the lucrative world of pro snooker. I have done well for myself, played against the best of players and made a mark for myself. I am glad that I gave pro circuit a try and broke into the top-64 ranking. But, there are external factors also which make it tough for an outsider like me to survive there.
"You spend a lot of time away from home, it's like flash Europe, flash China. The scheduling is tough. The food is also a big problem given I am a vegetarian. Another issue is lack of sponsorship. ONGC is kind enough to bear some of my expenses but lack of sponsors make it difficult for you to settle there. It's tough and brutal over there," he added.