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Ssb - pankaj advani's dilemma
Pankaj Advani is a talented all round cueist, already a world champion at billiards and in amateur snooker and now making his way in the professional ranks.
He has qualified for the International Championship, alongside his fellow Indian, Aditya Mehta.
Snooker was invented in India but it has been in billiards where their cue sports success has come.
And it is billiards which is threatening to derail Advani's snooker progress. The World Professional Championship in Leeds ends on the day the International Championship in faraway Chengdu begins. Advani is due to play the following evening but it would surely be a race against time were he to feature in the billiards final, which could easily happen.
This is an unfortunate dilemma for Advani but I imagine many players will see it this way: if he had no intention of playing in the International Championship then he shouldn’t have entered it. He has eliminated four players from the tournament who would like to have played in the final stages.
If he withdraws to play in the World Billiards Championship he will face disciplinary action.
In India, billiards is considered a more prestigious sport than snooker so his country may expect him to prioritise the three-ball game. But Advani has already been world champion in this sport, in 2009.
His snooker career is just taking off. He played well to beat John Higgins at the Paul Hunter Classic and can only now improve.
The experience of playing in the final stages of a major ranking event would be invaluable.
Advani loves billiards but it isn’t a profession: they have only one tournament. Snooker is and, as such, he could live to regret it if he decides not to go to China.
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He has qualified for the International Championship, alongside his fellow Indian, Aditya Mehta.
Snooker was invented in India but it has been in billiards where their cue sports success has come.
And it is billiards which is threatening to derail Advani's snooker progress. The World Professional Championship in Leeds ends on the day the International Championship in faraway Chengdu begins. Advani is due to play the following evening but it would surely be a race against time were he to feature in the billiards final, which could easily happen.
This is an unfortunate dilemma for Advani but I imagine many players will see it this way: if he had no intention of playing in the International Championship then he shouldn’t have entered it. He has eliminated four players from the tournament who would like to have played in the final stages.
If he withdraws to play in the World Billiards Championship he will face disciplinary action.
In India, billiards is considered a more prestigious sport than snooker so his country may expect him to prioritise the three-ball game. But Advani has already been world champion in this sport, in 2009.
His snooker career is just taking off. He played well to beat John Higgins at the Paul Hunter Classic and can only now improve.
The experience of playing in the final stages of a major ranking event would be invaluable.
Advani loves billiards but it isn’t a profession: they have only one tournament. Snooker is and, as such, he could live to regret it if he decides not to go to China.
More...
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