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In his second story for iSport, Cannon Ball shares his view on the future of Cue Sports. He talks about the meteoric rise of young gun Pankaj Advani and how the 24 year old is already the best there is in National and International cue sport.
Veterans like Geet Sethi have made a mark for themselves and amassed a whole heap of titles. The multiple World Champion won his first World Title at the age of 24 and in his next 23 years has managed to take the total to 8. He surpassed his role model, Michael Ferreira (who had 3 world titles to his name), making him the most successful Indian cueist. At 47, Sethi is now focusing on promoting potential Olympic medallists from India. A noble idea. By the way, did you know Billiards and Snooker are not even in the Olympics? So is he busy promoting other sports apart from his own, I hear you ask? That's another story for another time I guess. Back to this story!
Until a few years ago, Sethi had been basking in the glory of his achievements that are by far no mean feat. He became an ambassador for Cue Sports with his consistent performance at the highest levels, winning world titles at the IBSF and WPBSA* World Championships. All was going smoothly. Then came Pankaj Advani aka Pocket Rocket aka The Smiling Assassin. A quiet yet hungry teenager at the time surfaced from nowhere and soon became the 'Giant Killer' in Indian Snooker and Billiards. To give you a glimpse of how much damage this young professional has done, read on!
To begin with, what Sethi won at the age of 24 (his first World Title), Pankaj by that age has won SEVEN. Yes, this is no typo. 7 World Titles. There have been and are many decent players on the circuit, yet it is Sethi's name that was synonymous to invincible. Emphasis on "was". In the recent past, Advani has had Sethi's number in every major championship. The dynamic youngster got the better of solid Sethi in the final stages of the last couple of editions of the National Championships. At the Asian level, Advani won 3 of the Billiards Titles making him the most successful Asian Billiards Champion (Sethi just won it once in 1987). At the IBSF World Billiards Championships, Advani annihilated Sethi at the 2005 Time Format finals held in Malta to become the only person in the world to win 'twin' titles in Billiards in the same year - Points Format and Time Format.
Advani went on to repeat this phenomenal achievement in his hometown, Bangalore, lifting world titles in both formats, again by thrashing Sethi in the finals of the Points Format and again in the semis of the Time Format. Advani has played the role of the proverbial Dead End in Sethi's eyes.
To begin with, what Sethi won at the age of 24 (his first World Title), Pankaj by that age has won SEVEN. Yes, this is no typo. 7 World Titles. There have been and are many decent players on the circuit, yet it is Sethi's name that was synonymous to invincible. Emphasis on "was". In the recent past, Advani has had Sethi's number in every major championship. The dynamic youngster got the better of solid Sethi in the final stages of the last couple of editions of the National Championships. At the Asian level, Advani won 3 of the Billiards Titles making him the most successful Asian Billiards Champion (Sethi just won it once in 1987). At the IBSF World Billiards Championships, Advani annihilated Sethi at the 2005 Time Format finals held in Malta to become the only person in the world to win 'twin' titles in Billiards in the same year - Points Format and Time Format.Advani went on to repeat this phenomenal achievement in his hometown, Bangalore, lifting world titles in both formats, again by thrashing Sethi in the finals of the Points Format and again in the semis of the Time Format. Advani has played the role of the proverbial Dead End in Sethi's eyes.
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