Colombo, Sri Lanka: Making his tenth appearance at the Asian Billiards Championship, playing two matches on the first day of the Asian Billiards Championships, Pankaj ended the day with a clean sweep winning both his matches 4-0. In his first match in the round-robin stages, Pankaj Advani annihilated local representative Mansoor Mohamed Mubeen in four straight frames, 101-64, 101-13, 100-15 and 100-11. Pankaj then proceeded to match-up against Sri Lanka's familiar face, Anil Rohana, who he defeated with as much panache and confidence in straight frames again,102-6, 102-27,101-21 and 101-6.

Playing against Rohana, scoring three breaks of 102, 62 and 50, Pankaj's score of 102 was recorded the highest break of the day.

With day 1 of the Round Robin stages done, Pankaj Advani was cautious about proceeding further, "We have a long way to go to the title, this was just the start. There have been some prominent performances early on and I'm hoping to continue my strong start through the championship."

Pankaj Advani now plays, South Korea's Minhu Baek on Day 2 (3 March 2016) of the Round Robin stages at 17:30 Hours Sri Lankan time.