Roger Federer inspires Pankaj Advani

A self confessed Tennis fan, cueist Pankaj Advani Monday said modern day great Roger Federer and his poise has always inspired him.

"It's Roger Federer who has always inspired me. His style, grace, poise... the way he handles his fans and his popularity... that to me is an example of a true role model. He is getting older and not playing his best but I continue to be inspired by him," said Advani at the Kolkata Open Snooker Championship which began here Monday.

About Indian sportspersons Advani picked out cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, tennis ace Leander Paes, World billiards champion Geet Sethi and chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.

"They have raised the bar of their respective games and taken them to unimaginable levels. That's what legends are -- they became the definition of the sport itself," said Advani about the sport greats.

Though he hardly gets time to watch cricket, Advani said he was a Tendulkar fan and would often switch off the TV once the batting great was out.

Besides cricket, the seven time world champion also hopes to catch live action at the Wimbledon sooner than later.

Though he doesn't get much of free time, Advani said he prefers reading books and watching movies in his leisure and really enjoyed watching the Vidya Balan-starrer Hindi thriller "Kahaani".

Along with Advani, current global number three Sourav Kothari and Aditya Mehta - the first ever Indian to reach the final of a professional snooker tournament in 2013 are some of the big names participating in the week-long event which will end Dec 22.