Juggling billiards and snooker is a herculean task: Pankaj Advani

You ought to feel great after winning a record 11th title at the World Billiards Championship (point format)? Has it sunk in?
Not at all! And there are two reasons. Firstly, I haven't had the time to celebrate. The time format of the World Billiards Championship started the very next day (October 25). So, barely 15 hours after the end of the final of the point format, I had my first match in the time format! And secondly, it's No. 11 and that is unreal. I can't believe how it all happened.

Beating Peter Gilchrist in the final must have been the icing on the cake. After all, you lost to him in the league stage. How did you manage to turn it around?
Peter was in top form. He was the man to beat. I reached Leeds the night before the championship began, and took some time to overcome jet lag and get my eye in. Despite that, I lost narrowly to him in the first league match (2-3). Before the final, I knew I had to raise my game a notch and, thankfully, I did so at the right time. When he was leading 2-1 in the best-of-11 finale, I worked hard on constructing breaks and holding my nerve. I believed I could win the next five frames to win the title. Billiards is as much a game of skill as it is of the mind. And I'm very fortunate to have my brother Shree just a phone call away. As a sport psychologist and a player, he is the perfect resource for instilling confidence, devising strategies and mental conditioning.

In a sport like cricket, changing formats is tough. How challenging is it in your sport?
I struggled the day after winning the point format to play in the time format. Even though I won the opening game (against England's Robin Wilson), my approach needed a change. I had to open up my game a bit more and let the cue flow. That's how you play the time format. After a few matches, I got the hang of it.

You opted out of the professional snooker circuit in the UK and returned to India to focus on billiards. Would you call that the turning point of your career?
At this stage, yes. That one move resulted in three world titles in 2014 alone (IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championship, World Team Billiards Championship and now the World Billiards Championship). Plus, the time format is currently on and the IBSF World Snooker Championship will be held in Bangalore next month. So who knows! The point is that I enjoy playing both. Plus, when you are playing at home, you are playing for the country as opposed to playing for yourself.

You're actually juggling two sports in snooker and billiards. How difficult is it, in terms of mentality and preparation, to focus on both?
It is a herculean task. Nobody will truly understand the depth of the challenges and complexities of trying to excel in two sports. Right from cueing to mindset to skill sets, most of the aspects have to be adjusted. In fact, I will face that challenge when I go straight to Sheffield after the time format of the World Billiards Championship and switch to snooker to prepare for the World Snooker Championship back home in November. That should be fun!

But considering how taxing this can be, would you be tempted to again pick one and focus entirely on that?
At this point I'm thriving on playing both and wouldn't trade one for the other.

You now have three different world titles this year. Would you call this your best year, both in terms of results and form?
Definitely. Never before has anyone held world titles in snooker and billiards in the same year. For that matter, to the best of my knowledge, no one has won three world championships in a single year in any sport. Winning world titles in the shorter format of both billiards and snooker is another first I believe. And getting gold in the inaugural world team event was special too. So yes, 2014 has to be the year!

Finally, looking ahead, what are your goals in the coming months and going into next year?
To just keep excelling in every event I participate in. Whether it is an invitational tournament at a national level, or a world championship of the highest order, I simply just want to give, and be, at my best.