The Padma Bhushan couldn’t have come at a better time: Pankaj Advani

On the eve of the 69th Republic Day on Thursday, Karnataka had much to cheer when the list of civilian honour winners had nine from the state, with Bengaluru boy and cue sport champion Pankaj Advani named one of the recipients of the Padma Bhushan for 2018. There was jubilation in the Advani household and it took us a while to catch hold of the man of the moment for a quick chat, as he answered call after call from people congratulating him on the honour.“Receiving a civilian award is recognition of the highest order and I’m honoured and humbled, not only for myself, personally, but also as it is recognition for the snooker fraternity. I am glad that it has come ‘our’ way,” says Pankaj, adding that he is looking forward to the actual award ceremony. “I have been to one function, when I won a Padma Shri in 2009. I look forward to reliving those memories and creating even better ones this time, considering that two of my good friends, MS Dhoni and Somdev Devvarman, will also be there,” he says.
The award, says Pankaj, couldn’t have come at a better time. “I won pretty much most of the events that I participated in last year. But, more importantly, the Padma Bhushan has come at a time when I am the reigning World Billiards and Snooker champion. I ended 2017 with a bang and began 2018 by being conferred the third highest civilian honour from the Government of India; it’s an exciting start,” he says. So, is he now eyeing a higher order on the award list? “You have to wait a long time to get these awards and the government has a tough job of selecting who deserves it for that year and figuring out who can wait a turn. It all depends on how people perceive your achievements,” Pankaj signs off.