IBSF

The International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) conduct the World Billiards and Snooker Championships every year. In Snooker, the top 2 players of that year are sent to these tournaments to represent their country.The World Billiards Championship generally is not that stern about the number of entries from each country and many a time it is an open tournament. Often, the World Billiards Championships see participation from greats like Peter Gilchrist, Mike Russell, Robbie Foldvari, Ian Williamson, etc You get to see the crème de la crème of cue sports in these two tournaments. The IBSF also conducts the World U-21 Snooker Championship each year.

ACBS

The Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports organizes the Asian Snooker and Billiards events each year. In these tournaments, only the top 2 players from each country are sent to participate. They also conduct the Asian U-21 Snooker Event every year.

BSFI

The Billiards and Snooker Federation of India is in charge for the National Championships in all disciplines viz. Billiards, Snooker, 8-ball and 9-ball pool and Carrom. There are various categories: Seniors (over 21), Ladies, Junior (u-21), Sub-Junior (u-17).The BSFI is also the point of contact for foreign cue sports authorities, event and tournament organizers, government bodies, etc.

Apart from the above-mentioned tournaments, there are also many invitational tournaments that take place each year, both domestic and international. The ranking of players in the country in this case is not necessarily always considered, as certain organizers may want specific players to add glamour to their event, irrespective of their current national standing.

This National Billiards and Snooker Championships

This National Billiards and Snooker Championships is an annual event played by top cueists. It includes players from all states, railways and PSU oil companies (PSPB:Petroleum Sports Promotion Board). Pankaj Advani, India's premier cueist plays for the PSPB. Both Billiards and Snooker tournaments are held in a different city every year to determine India No.1.

The top 8 cueists of this event vie for contending in international events such as Asian and World Championships through selection camps held consequently. It is based on a points system that determines which players will represent the country in international events. For the Nationals, the winner is awarded 4000 points. Runner-up gets 3560 points, while No. 3 receives 3204 points, etc.

In the subsequent selection camps, the overall points are reduced since these camps are of lesser significance than the main event, The Nationals.

The recently concluded Senior Nationals held in Hyderabad in December '07 saw Pankaj Advani win a Seniors double - Billiards and Snooker titles, a first for him. In Billiards, he defeated Geet Sethi in the semi-finals by about 260 points. Also, Ashok Shandilya got the better of Rupesh Shah with a hundred-point win over Rupesh Shah. Pankaj clinched the title by beating Ashok Shandilya by almost 500 points in the title fight.