Pankaj Advani wins World Billiards Championship again; Shruthi L makes it three in a row
Pankaj Advani beat England's Robert Hall 1,906–1,206 to reclaim the world billiards crown he last won in 2014, while 19-year-old Shruthi L retained the women's world title for a third straight year.
Pankaj Advani has done it again. The Bengaluru cueist beat England's Robert Hall 1,906–1,206 in the final of the World Billiards Championship at the Landywood Snooker Club in England, reclaiming a crown he last held in 2014. And because Indian billiards likes to arrive in pairs, 19-year-old Shruthi L retained the women's world title for a third year running at the same event.
Five hours, one big break
This was no quick sprint. The final ran for roughly five hours, scored on points rather than frames, and Advani had to dig himself out of a hole to win it. Deccan Herald reports that he trailed by a big margin before a break of 587 – the highest of the championship – swung the match his way. From there, he never let go – the kind of patient, relentless scoring that has made him a household name in Indian sport.
The final also had a pleasing symmetry. According to the official governing body's report, Advani's previous win in this event, in 2014, also came against Hall in the final.
The road to the title
The 2026 championship drew a field of 60 players, starting with a group phase before the knockouts. Advani topped his group with a clean sweep of wins, then survived a tense last-16 meeting with Christian Kirk – a 150-minute match he won by just 15 points, even though Kirk made a top break of 200.
In the quarter-final he beat fellow Indian Sourav Kothari 1,134–575. The semi-final was the real test: David Causier, the defending champion, who had not lost in this event since the 2023 final. Advani ended that run 1,607–1,271, and was the only Indian in the last four.
Number 29 – and counting
Deccan Herald counts this as Advani's 29th world title across cue sports. For context, after his 2024 win at the 150-up world championship in Doha – where he also beat Hall – Business Standard quoted the sport's world body, the IBSF, putting his tally at 28, including 20 in billiards. Few Indian athletes in any sport can match that kind of shelf space.
The two events are different beasts, which is worth knowing if you only catch billiards once a year. The 150-up format is a race in short games, while this championship's final is a long, time-based slog where one huge break can decide everything – exactly what happened here.
Shruthi L makes it three in a row
The women's title stayed in Indian hands too. Shruthi L won all her matches in a five-player round-robin group, against Eva Palmius, Michelle Cohen, Mhairi McKay and Gaye Jones, then beat Palmius 414–153 in the final. Her scoring included breaks of 82, 57 and 105, and the win gave her the women's world title for a third straight year.
What's next
Advani does not rest for long. Deccan Herald reports that he now switches to snooker for the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Indore – a home world event and another shot at adding to that famous count.
The FHM take
Cricket hogs the headlines, but India has quietly been a cue-sports superpower for years, and these two titles prove it twice over. Advani coming back from behind in a five-hour final is the kind of grit we would happily put on a poster. Shruthi, at 19, already looks like the next name on that poster. If you have never sat through a full billiards session, a 587 break in a world final is a very good reason to start.
Sources: Deccan Herald, Business Standard
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