India's Billiards and Snooker Champion Pankaj Advani will begin with the Myanmar Open on September 9 in Mandalay. Pankaj Advani is a twenty-one-time winner at the World Championship of Billards and Snooker. The Myanmar Open is preliminary to the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Billiards Championship that will also be held in Mandalay. The Indian Champion is all set to hang on to his World title as he won it last year as well. 

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"Excited to defend my world title"

Indian Champion Pankaj Advani before heading to the Myanmar Open said, "This tournament leading up to the world championship is pivotal. Getting settled in and used to the conditions is what the Myanmar Open will help me with. I'm looking forward to a week of Billiards and excited to defend my world title".

The prelude and main tournament will be played in short format of 150-up. The cueist in this format will be required to score 150 points before the opponent reaches there in order to win a frame. The matches of the three-day-long tournament will vary from best-of-5 to 11, which will depend on the level of the tournament.

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More about Pankaj Advani, the World Champion from India

Born on July 24, 1985, in the city of Pune, Pankaj made his international debut in Billiards in the year 2002 at the Asian Billiards Championship. The tournament was held in Bangaluru where Advani finished off as a finalist. He won his first world title in Snooker in the year 2003 and after that, he won the IBSF World Billiards Championship at Malta in 2005. At the IBSF tournament, Advani was the first player to get a 'grand double' after winning both time and point formats. He went on to win more and more titles over the years and he was also recognized as the youngest player to win all these world titles. The 34-year-old player is the only Indian to win titles in Snooker and Billiards both.  He has received several awards from the Government of India, with his recent one being Padma Bhushan last year.

(With inputs from ANI)

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