Newly coronated World Snooker Champion Pankaj Advani is eager to convert his win into a grand double at the World Billiards Championships in Hyderabad next month, a tough prospect, he said, is worth "going for".
"I will surely try my level best to win the World Billiards title to go with this (Snooker title)," Advani said from Jiangmen, China.
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Advani on Saturday became only the second Indian to win the World Snooker Championship when he defeated Saleh Mohammad of Pakistan 11-6.
It took India 19 years to bring back the coveted crown after late O B Agarwal had won it in 1984.
The youngest national snooker champion, however, said Billiards was his first love in cue sports.
"I enjoy playing snooker and have been doing so for the last ten months. But I think naturally I am a Billiards player."
Advani finished third in 2002 National Billiards Championship and will vie for honours in the World Billiards Championship to be held in Hyderabad from November 17.
In all 48 cueists from 18 countries will participate in the event which will be played on a 150 up format.
Advani, who is the only cueist after the legendary Geet Sethi to have won three titles in the same national championship, said he would take a couple of day's break after returning to India and "then start my preparations for the Billiards championship with the State Ranking Billiards tournament in Bangalore starting next week".
On his title winning run in China, Advani said "it was great to win the title as only one Indian had won it before this.
"I was immensely benefitted by the special training I recieved in United Kingdom before the tournament. There I could play against the best cuists in the world which gave a new dimension to my game."
Advani, alongwith former Asian champion Yasin Merchant, Manan Chandra and Rafat Habib, was sent to train in UK by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India under the Union Sports Ministry's scheme for promising sportspersons.
The Bangalore-based player showed tremendous maturity throughout the tournament especially when he was down 1-4 and 0-3 in the first two rounds of the knock-out stage respectively but kept his cool to win 5-4.
"I just managed to win those matches," he said looking back at those victories.
Indian team coach Michael Ferreira was all praise for his young pupil saying "his (Advani) strength is his mental composure and a mature head."
"The way he came back in the first two rounds of the knock-out phase proves his potential," said Ferreira, a former world billiards champion.
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