I’ve reached a stage where it doesn’t matter what people say: Pankaj Advani

After winning 17th & 18th world championship titles in snooker, billiards recently, Pankaj Advani talks to Rutvick Mehta about considering himself an artist; matching his idol Federer in terms of exceptional season

How satisfying have the last few weeks been for you?

This one is extremely special. It just feels unreal to have won billiards and snooker with hardly any time to switch between the two. The world championships, both billiards and snooker, are extremely competitive. We have the top two players from each country coming. It’s a long event, so I had to maintain the intensity and focus in two completely different disciplines of cue sports. So, it’s just been a phenomenal month for me. I’d rank it as one of the best months of my sporting career.   

The last time you did the billiards-snooker double was in 2015. You’ve spoken before about how challenging it is to juggle the two disciplines. Is it getting easier now than before or all the more demanding?

It’s always challenging because when you’re the only one doing it, and when you’re expected to go all the way, or at least make it to the business end of these events, then there’s that much more pressure of expectations. I feel that I’m enjoying the variety. As they rightly say, ‘variety is the spice of life’. I like that variety that I have by playing billiards and snooker, the short format and long format.

Obviously, 2015 was another great year for me. But I had a gap between the events back then. This time, to not have a gap and to maintain that rhythm and to switch immediately makes me believe that I’ve proved a point to myself. I’ve stopped playing to prove a point to anyone else now. It’s about proving yourself that you can be the best.

Talking of motivation, you said you no longer have a point to prove to anyone. As someone who is winning titles consistently but without the kind of recognition, how difficult is it to get up every day and push yourself, despite knowing that not many people will talk about it?

The whole point is, I don’t play for anyone else. I don’t play to impress X, Y, Z, or to ensure that X, Y, Z praises me and says, ‘oh, you’re a genius, you did a great job or whatever it is’. I play because I love playing the game, I enjoy competing, I love winning medals for my country. As a professional, that’s how you go about your business. Obviously, there’s a job satisfaction in this game, doing something you love and you’re passionate about. And when you excel in it, it helps. It gives you an even bigger kick.

So, I think I’ve reached a stage where it doesn’t really matter to me what people say now. People will still say all sorts of things. They’ll say, ‘you could do this or you could do that, stop saying this or stop saying that’. But I guess that happens with every person in the public eye.

There will always be detractors. There will always be haters. There will always be people who try to belittle your achievements. They will not understand your side of the story. But at the same time, there are a few genuine people who also appreciate you. So you’ve got to take the good with the bad.

You must be tired of this question of recognition. But in this day and age of social media, are you hoping that your achievements are at least highlighted now the way it should?      

That’s completely up to the people. It’s also up to you guys, the media. This question needs to be answered by people who cover sport, by people who talk about sport, by people who follow sport, by people who are in charge of sport. Whether it’s our federation or our governments. It’s all about perceptions, really. If people feel that a world championship gold is a big thing, they’ll talk about it. If they feel it’s not a big thing, then that’s their perception I guess.

We know you’re a big Roger Federer fan. Are you chasing the magic No. 19, where he is at currently?

I just feel so blessed to be in the same era as him, although in a different sport. Well, thank God it’s a different sport! I think Rafa is enough for him for now (laughs).  

But it’s so nice to have won two world titles in the same year as Federer winning two Grand Slams. Add to that, I also won a couple of Asian titles as well. So, it’s just lovely when both you and your idol can perform exceptionally well in the same season or the same year and have those glorious moments around the same time. There’s so much to learn for me personally from a champion like him. Because he’s not only a champion in his game, he’s a champion off the arena and tennis court as well. Just an inspirational human being.

Are you into numbers when it comes to goals, let’s say winning 20 or 25 world titles?

Of course, when we talk about sporting achievements or sportspersons who have done exceptionally well over a decade or two, dominated their sport and had records tumbling, numbers have to be used as a reference. But personally, I don’t care about numbers.

I consider myself as an artist. Every time I go out there, I want to reinvent myself and paint a completely different picture. I want to keep changing my style of play, and not just stick to the same things over and over again. In that sense, I’m quite moody. There are days I play 5-8 hours a day, and then there are days where I don’t feel like playing much at all. So, I consider myself more of an artist, something that is abstract. I think that’s something that has really worked well for me because I’m not limiting myself to numbers, I’m not limiting myself to just winning titles. There are a lot of layers that I’ve developed in my game over the last two years, which keeps me refreshed and kills the monotony.   

When you say not limiting yourself, it’s in terms of the number of years you want play too, right?

Yes. In fact, my tournaments have not been that many this year. I like to pick and choose my events. For example, I knew I had to be there in Doha for three weeks, I knew it was going to be a very long tournament with a lot of matches. I knew I would be really burnt out if I played a couple of events before that. So I chose not to play in any event two months prior to that. I took some time off in September and started training in October. So, you have to understand yourself, and I think I’ve planned it perfectly. I told myself, ‘you know what, I’m going to peak at the right time, and go fresh and hungry for the world championships’.

ADVANI’S 18 WORLD TITLES

• IBSF World Snooker Champion: 2017, 2015, 2003
   
• World Billiards Champion (Points Format): 2017, 2016, 2014, 2008, 2005
   
• World Billiards Champion (Time Format): 2015, 2014, 2012, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2005
   
• IBSF World Six-Red Snooker Champion: 2015, 2014
   
• World Team Billiards Championship: 2014