Indian cue sports legend Pankaj Advani clinched his 18th World Billiards Title and 28th Billiards and Snooker titles combined at the 2024 IBSF 150-up Billiards Championships held in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday. Advani defeated England’s Robert Hall 4-2 in the final, marking his seventh consecutive title in the 150-Up format of the IBSF Billiards Championship.
Advani dominated the start, winning the first three frames (151-94, 151-0, 150-84) and establishing a solid lead. However, Hall fought back, winning two consecutive frames (151-74, 151-6) to stay in contention.
Advani secures the win in style
The 39-year-old Indian champion came back strong in the sixth frame, sealing the match with a decisive 152-46 win to lift the title. This victory makes him a 28-time International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Champion, with an impressive tally of 18 Billiards titles, one World Team Billiards title, and nine titles across various snooker competitions.
Other Indian performances
In the same tournament, India’s Sourav Kothari took home a bronze medal in the 150-up format after losing to Advani 2-4 in the semi-finals. Additionally, India’s sole semifinalist in the World Masters Snooker Championship, unfortunately, settled for bronze after a 2-4 loss to Thailand’s Issara Kachaiwong.
About Pankaj Advani
Born on 24th July 1985 in Pune, India, Pankaj Advani was introduced to snooker by his brother, Dr. Shree Advani, a sports psychologist. Advani won his first title at just 11 and later claimed the Indian Junior Billiards Championship three times.
Advani has an impressive 28 international titles across Billiards and Snooker World Championships, including the 2003 World Snooker Championship, the 2005 World Billiards Championship, and the 2012 WPBSA World Billiards Championship. In 2005, he became the first player to win the IBSF World Billiards Championships’ “Grand Double,” a feat he repeated in 2008.
Throughout his career, Advani has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2006, the Padma Bhushan in 2009, the Arjuna Award in 2004, and the “International Indian” Award by Vision of India in 2005.
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