Was under pressure in 2010 Asiad to defend my Doha gold, says Pankaj Advani

TIL Desk Sports/ What makes an athlete special, the ability to lift one’s game to a different level altogether when he or she is competing at the highest level. Ace cueist Pankaj Advani has revealed that he was under a lot of pressure to defend his gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Advani had won the gold medal in billiards in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and was entering Guangzhou as the defending champions.

“When I was 21, I felt like the Asian Games was a different platform. There was loads of pressure because not only people from your fraternity are watching you, but the entire sporting world, especially the continent, the Indian officials, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), everybody has their eyes on you and the game, because they want every game to get as many medals as they can,” said Advani while speaking on the show ‘The A-Game’.