A file picture of Pankaj Advani with the world snooker trophy , won in Beijing last year

Calcutta: Putting aside plans of turning into a professional, the young Indian cueist Pankaj Advani is now only focussing on the various national and international meets to creep up the rankings ladder of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).

“I want to compete in most of the international and national meets along with the Challenge Tour coming up in England next month, where a series of five tournaments will be played and all top snooker players will be seen in action,” Advani told The Telegraph, on reaching the city this afternoon.

According to the young prodigy, it has become very difficult for any Asian to reach the top rung as almost all the leading cue sport tourneys are UK-based. But the urge to make it to the top has always been working as an inspiration for him for the last couple of years. In the process, he managed to topple all the big names in the sport to lift the IBSF world snooker championships in Beijing last year.

“I had aimed to excel in that meet for the last two years and the dream of beating the stalwarts finally came true when I had the last laugh in Beijing,” Advani said.

Since the circuit has become tougher for the Asians, Advani has planned to spend most of his time abroad rubbing shoulders with the top class cueists of England, Ireland and other European nations.

Advani didn’t do that well in the World Under-21 snooker meet in Carlow, Ireland last month, but feels the experience there would take him a long way as that was a “very” high standard meet which observed 38 century breaks altogether. “I lost against the champion Gary Wilson of England in the pre-quarters,” Advani said.

Advani, who took everyone by surprise after bagging the world championships, will also be bidding for the forthcoming world meet to be held in Holland in November. “The Holland meet will really be an acid test for me alongside the world toppers. I am concentrating on the meet at the moment and if I can repeat the performance of Beijing, it would be great for me and also for the whole cue sport fraternity as well,” he observed.

The selection trials for both the world and Asian meets beginning at the SAI here on Friday would definitely help the master cueist gather some more confidence for marching ahead in the circuit. “Here I will be pitted against top class Indian players, who are no less talented than other players in the world,” Advani felt.

Last but not the least, turning pro is there at the back of his mind and sooner or later he will make the category, Advani claims.