Illayaraja, 74, who has been conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2009, was selected for Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna.
India's No. 1 snooker player Aditya Mehta, who has been chosen for the prestigious Arjuna award, has said that this recognition would help raise the profile of his sport in the country.
The IBSF World Men's Snooker Championship, which was originally scheduled to take place in Bahrain, will now be held in Bangalore from November 28 to December 3.
On Day One of Lakme Fashion Week, designer Babita M showcased an appealing, young collection that is best described as urban funk. Actor Harman Baweja and billiards champ Pankaj Advani showstopped for the collection. Here's a glimpse.
Indian billiards player Dhruv Sitwala's hopes of winning his maiden World Professional title came crashing down after he lost his summit clash to nine-time champion Mike Russell of Qatar at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.
Celebs follow a template for their special day -- an intimate ceremony with few people and a keen eye for a touch of luxury in every aspect.
Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone presents India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the Team of the Year award at the Sahara India Sports Awards, in Mumbai, on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Defending champion Pankaj Advani and veteran Geet Sethi entered the semi-finals of the time format in the IBSF World Billiards Championship after contrasting victories in Pune on Thursday. Sethi defeated compatriot Ashok Shandilya by a huge margin of 1230 points, while Advani beat another Indian Rupesh Shah by 595 points after trailing nearly by 170 points, at the PYC Gymkhana Club.
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani's hopes of winning the IBSF World snooker title for the second time in his career came crashing down after he failed to overcome a spirited challenge from Dechawat Pomajaeng of Thailand in the final of the event in Damascus, Syria, on Thursday. Advani lost 37-67, 71-47, 69-35, 138-00, 12-85, 15-68, 13-63, 27-68, 57-56, 61-15, 15-71, 35-75, 32-58, 71-25, 62-33, 00-130, 08-92.
Reigning World professional champion Pankaj Advani and veteran Geet Sethi will spearhead India's challenge in the billiards category in this year's Asian Games to be held in Ghungzhou, China from November 12-27.
World billiards champion Pankaj Advani says cue sports can contemplate changing the dress code and also add a few other things to make an attractive discipline like the Indian Premier League.
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani on stormed into the finals of the IBSF World Snooker championships after defeating Rodney Goggins of Ireland 7-4 in Damascus, Syria.
In the backdrop of the developments surrounding cricket in India, sixteen-time world champion in cuesports Pankaj Advani feels that any sports code would only yield results if athletes and measures to support them are given primacy. "The world's sports policy needs to be centred on the athletes and their requirements. Only then will it be successful," he said on the sidelines of the 3rd Kolkata Open National Invitation Snooker Championship 2017 organised by the West Bengal Billiards Association which kicked off today at the Bengal Rowing Club.
Star cueist Pankaj Advani provided the first gold medal for India in the 16th Asian Games by clinching the title in billards singles while the shooters accounted for a silver and bronze on the second day of competitions in Guangzhou on Sunday.
National billiards champion Alok Kumar on Sunday became the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in pool events by clinching bronze in the men's 8-ball category despite losing in the semi-finals in Guangzhou.
Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G Madhavan Nair, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, historian Ramachandra Guha and noted billiard player Pankaj Advani were among the 63 personalities who received the Padma awards in New Delhi on Tuesday. The recipients also include social activist Sunderlal Bahuguna and veteran actor Helen Khan. President Prathibha Patil gave away the Padma awards at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Defending champion Pankaj Advani opened his campaign in style, winning both his group matches, but eight-time winner Geet Sethi suffered one of the worst starts in his career, losing back-to-back league matches on the opening day of the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Pune on Friday.
Reader Abhishek Soman sent us this picture from Pune.
Through seven World and five Asian titles and across 30 countries one thing has remained unchanged in Billiards wonder boy Pankaj Advani's life - his lucky cue.
Up-and-coming Indian pugilists Suranjoy Singh and Nanao Singh are set to sign a sponsorship deal with Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), floated by badminton ace Prakash Padukone and billiards champion Geet Sethi.
India's legendary sportsmen (from left to right) Sunil Gavaskar, Geet Sethi and Vijay Amritraj at the 13th annual WhartonIndia Economic Forum, at Park Hyatt in Philadelphia.
His feat of becoming a three-time Asian billiards champion going virtually unnoticed amid the IPL hype, ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani rued that his failures make more news than his triumphs.
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani capped his Asian Indoor Games campaign by winning a bronze medal in the English Billiards singles category in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal walked away with the Sports Person of the Year award for 2008-09, while World billiards champion Pankaj Advani and cricketer Virender Sehwag shared the honour for 2007-08 at the ninth PSPB annual awards in Delhi on Wednesday night.
Fresh from a two-month break, ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani is eyeing a good start in the new season with the Six-Red National Championships to be held in Bangalore from March 7-16.
Equipped with management skills after a stint at the Indian School of Business, former hockey ace Viren Rasquinha is back to contribute to Indian sport as Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Olympic Gold Quest.
Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, ace cueist Pankaj Advani believes politics should not be mixed with games and Indo-Pak sporting ties should go on.
British snooker player Stephen Lee was handed a 12-year ban on Wednesday after being found guilty of match-fixing.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Defending champions Pankaj Advani (timed format), who is in line for a hattrick, and Rupesh Shah (point format) will be seen in action in the IBSF World Billiards Championship which gets underway in Bangalore on Monday.
Indoor Asian Games in Macau, with Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran and Koneru Humpy winning gold in individual Blitz chess and Geet Sethi grabbing second place in billiards singles.
The police said the sisters, aged 12 and 13, came to Kumarakom and stayed at the hotel two days ago. Shyju Varghese, the security guard of the hotel, allegedly attempted to molest the girls in the hotel's billiards room on Wednesday, following which they raised an alarm.
Shabaz, representing Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, trounced Shravan of Maharashtra 82-38 54-67 54-20 65-26 while Andhra Pradesh's K Someswara Rao thrashed Druv Sitwala of PSPB 58-1 49-27 61-73 39-58 43-34 in the Senior Snooker draw of the ongoing National Billiards and Snooker Championship in Hyderabad.
Now boxer Manoj Kumar, a World Championships quarter-finalist, also a two-time Asian Championships bronze-medallist is seeking an appointment with Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, saying he was ignored for the Arjuna despite fine performances.
Pankaj Advani qualified for the Asian Billiards Championships after topping the selection trials.
Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi have joined hands to launch the Olympic Gold Quest Sports Foundation.
Fifteen other top sportspersons, including woman shuttler Aparna Popat and shooter Gagan Narang were presented the Arjuna award.
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