Akani, a regular in amateur Thai snooker events since 2011,[2] first came to international attention with a 5–2 win over professional Matthew Selt in the Six-red World Championship,[2] in 2008.

He stood one win away from playing in the World Championship after defeating Mei Xiwen 10–5 and Joe Perry 10–9, but was heavily beaten 10–3 by David Grace.

He reached the Last 16 of the 2017 Indian Open after beating Scott Donaldson, Stephen Maguire, and Dominic Dale before losing 4–2 to Liam Highfield.

In the knockout stage, he beat Stephen Maguire and Mohammed Shehab 6–5 to reach the semi-finals, where he lost 7–5 to eventual champion Kyren Wilson.

Having failed to qualify for the Indian Open and European Masters, Akani's next ranking event was the 2018 China Championship, where he lost 5–3 in the first round to Mark Selby, who would go on to win the tournament.

Akani beat Soheil Vahedi 6–5 to qualify for the International Championship, where he defeated Mark Williams 6-3 and Zhou Yuelong 6–4 to reach the third round, where he lost 6–4 to Ali Carter.

Akani enjoyed another good showing at the 2018 UK Championship, defeating Eden Sharav and James Cahill 6–5, and winning 6–2 against Jak Jones to reach the last 16 for the second year running, where he lost 6–2 to Stuart Bingham.

His next win at a ranking event came at the Shoot-Out, where he defeated Lyu Haotian and Billy Joe Castle before losing in the third round to amateur player Ryan Davies.