Twenty-three-year-old Pankaj Advani may have scaled heights as a snooker player and English billiards player by first bagging the World Champion amateur player title and then the 2006 Asian Games gold medal in English billiards singles.

However, his constant desire to out-perform his feats has seen him forgo a lot. "If you have an ambition to pursue, you have to be honest to it. You have to give it enough time so that you can be the best. There have been certain sacrifices that I have had to make in the past. But it is not true that I eat, drink and sleep only my game. I try to balance friends and family with my profession," Pankaj says.

He adds, "I missed out on having fun in college as I had to give more time to the sport. I hardly attended college. I have completed B Com and I have plans to do my MBA. I want to finish my studies."

When quizzed about his friends he says, "Robin Uthappa (cricketer) and Shikha Tandon (swimmer) are my very good friends. We are on the same wavelength," he says.

Any young man of his age would either be looking out for love or would already be hooked. What's Pankaj's ‘relationship status'? "I'm not in any relationship. I'm just waiting for love," he smiles. "There are a few (girlfriends) whom I'm in touch with."

And what would it take them to charm him?

"Honesty is something that would attract me to a girl. A sense of humour is important, which means not only the ability to laugh at others but also at your own self. She shouldn't be predictable," he answers.

Pankaj has grand plans to make snooker and billiards popular in India. "Our country has enough facilities but to make these games popular we have to take them to the grassroot level and introduce them in schools. I have witnessed how much children like these games. Only if we give them opportunities, can we see fantastic players coming up," he says. "I want to become a coach sometime later but as of now I want to go on achieving," he ends.

Pankaj has been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour, in 2006.