The Hindu : Sport : Advani reluctant to try pro snooker

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Advani reluctant to try pro snooker

Stan Rayan

— Photo: Stan Rayan

TOUGH CHOICE: Advani (right) wants to continue with billiards despite winning the World amateur snooker championship.

KOCHI: He is just 22 and has won everything there is to be won in amateur billiards and snooker. There are four World titles in his showcase. A prized trophy is the World snooker crown he won in 2003, only the second Indian to do so, after Om Agarwal in 1984.

With such a glittering collection, one would expect Pankaj Advani to hunger for bigger challenges. Like the very competitive world of professional snooker.

But the ace cueist is very reluctant to get into the professional snooker circuit.

“Professional snooker is UK-centric, it’s almost a UK circuit, ideal for UK players,” said the World billiards champion, in Kochi, the other day. “It’s not easy to play the circuit.”

Life can be very tough for a first-timer in the pro world. “It’s a culture shock when you go there. It’s lonely too,” said the Bangalore youngster. “One has to go through it to feel it. It’s a different ball game altogether.”

Expensive circuit

The circuit could be pretty expensive, even for a World champion. “The first two years are really difficult. Only the top 40 to 50 make money,” explained Advani.

“Earlier, the winner of the amateur World got a direct entry into the pro circuit. But the year I won that rule was scrapped. Now, the qualifying tournament is huge, there are some eight tournaments spread over six months. Probably, if I get a direct entry, may be I’ll play a couple of years.”

But how are the Chinese managing in the pro world? Some of them, like Ding Junhui, the current World No. 9, seem to have taken the circuit by storm. “The Chinese have full backing from the Government, they need not worry about anything, they just have to play,” said Advani. “There are quite a few Chinese on the pro circuit, and they come with support staff, they don’t feel lonely.

“And Ding is exceptional, he’s a genius. He’s a perfect example of a Chinese sportsperson, extremely focussed, no emotions and he has an army of supporters. All he has to do is play the game,” he said.

India’s former Asian champion Yasin Merchant did reasonably well — he was ranked No. 64 once — when he played the professional circuit nearly a decade ago and more recently Manan Chandra was just outside the top 100.

But there is a positive side too, to Advani shutting the door on the pro snooker circuit.

Positive side

“When I knew that I wouldn’t get a pro circuit berth, it made me concentrate more on my billiards. It became my main focus. In billiards, the pro and amateur circuits are almost integrated.

“Had I entered the professional snooker circuit, it would have been difficult to handle billiards. I don’t want to give up billiards because it has given me so much in my life.”

It also brought him the 2006 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award – the highest honour bestowed by the Government on an Indian sportsman.

Lack of glamour

With stars like Pankaj Advani and Manan Chandra around, the green baize game wears a young and fresh look. But the sport needs to look more attractive.

“Cue sport has an old English look about it. This has to change,” said Advani. “The federation has to take steps to make the sport a little more glamorous.

“Shortening the format, adding bright lights, making the game quicker — 25 seconds to play one shot, 25 minutes per frame — and getting a few big stars for major matches are some of the things the federation can work on. And you can have a best-of-five in the 100-up format in billiards, each 100-up will last about 10 to 15 minutes. These are interesting things we could possibly try to make the game much faster and more spectator-friendly.”

There is also a need to bring in more youngsters, to help the game reach new highs, says the young star.

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