The 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.

It was pleasurable to see 4 young players make it to the semis in Snooker. The average age being 23. A fine sign for Indian Snooker. Pankaj beat Sourav Kothari 5-2 in the semis and Aditya scored a facile 5-1 victory over Manan Chandra. Pankaj continued his marvelous form to end his campaign in fashion with a thrashing 6-1 victory over Aditya Mehta. A noteworthy effort by Pankaj for not losing a single match throughout the 3 weeks National Billards and Snooker events.

With his outstanding form and performances to match, Pankaj is the frontrunner for qualifying to represent India in the upcoming Asian and World Billiards and Snooker events for 2008.