Advani on arrival in Mumbai on Tuesday. (PTI)

Mumbai: Double IBSF Billiards champion Pankaj Advani termed his nerve-wracking come-from-behind semi-final victory over Australia?s Robby Foldvari as the turning point of his triumphant run in Malta.

The 19-year-old Bangalore cueist, who returned home on Tuesday to a warm welcome at the Mumbai airport, also rated his title triumph in the time format final against multiple-time world champion Geet Sethi above his other two world crowns.

?I was down 0-4 against Foldvari in the point format semi-final. But the moment I made it 2-4 I saw him cracking a bit and I turned this into my favour to win it 5-4,? he said.

Advani went on to beat compatriot Devendra Joshi 6-2 in the 150-up format final after his heart-stopping win over the slow-playing Foldvari. He then defeated seven-time world champion Sethi 2242-1717 in the time format final to make it a historic grand double.

The second year B. Com student?s feat of clinching the world titles in both forms of the game was unique.

The reigning Asian and national billiards champion also became the first man to win an IBSF billiards crown after having clinched the corresponding snooker title in china in 2003 after Malta?s Paul Mifsud.

Asked which crown he rated the best, Advani said ?any world title is high up in my books. Still, if one goes by the quality of play and opposition, I would rate the world time format title slightly above the others.?

Former IBSF billiards winner Michael Ferreira, the current president of the Maharashtra Billiards and Snooker Association, was among those present at the airport to welcome the hero on his return.

Advani described the six-hour final against Sethi, who has won the world professional crown three times in his illustrious career, as a very tough one.

?I beat him in the semi-finals of the nationals here, but lost to him in the Asian billiards qualifiers at Chembur Gymkhana here (before winning the title in Pune later). He was playing very well by running up regular breaks of 300 and 400 earlier in the tournament in Malta,? Advani said.

?To beat Geet is not easy. He?s a terrific player and winner of seven titles,? the winner of both the national Junior titles this year, said. (PTI)