As a child, Snenthra Babu loved to watch her father Babu Ponnuswamy play snooker. “The game fascinated me. I remember that the cue stick was then longer than I was and it was difficult to manage,” she recollects. Now 15, she is the first from Coimbatore to represent India at the IBSF World Under 16 Snooker Championship recently held at Tyumen, Russia. “It was a tough game and I lost to Albina Leschuk from Belarus who won the Under 16 girls title in the pre-quarters.”
Though she has been playing snooker for seven years, it has only been a year and a half since Snenthra started training professionally. “My trainers are Prem Prakash and V Naveen, both from Coimbatore. They taught me the rules, the right posture, and about the championships for snooker and billiards,” she says. The first few months of training were hard. “My body ached because of too much leaning over the game board. It took me over three months to get used to it. Now, I train for eight hours daily.”
Snenthra’s first competition was the State Championship organised by the Tamil Nadu Billiards and Snooker Association at Chennai in December last year. “I won the third place in snooker and fourth in billiards. I was also selected for the national championship organised by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India to represent Tamil Nadu.” She was one among the top eight in billiards and among top 16 in snooker. It was this performance that earned her a place in the Under 16 Snooker Championship. “After selection, I attended a camp in Delhi for a week. I met some of the best players from the country and picked up a couple of techniques from them.”
Snenthra also regularly watches players like Ronnie O'Sullivan on Youtube. “It helps me understand different styles. My father takes videos of my matches. I evaluate them with my coaches later to correct my mistakes,” she says. Focus is the key in snooker and billiards. “A player has to plan every move very carefully. A small mistake from one side can be of great advantage to the opponent. To improve my concentration, I meditate and do yoga. This has helped me stay calm during my competitions,” she says.
She is now getting ready for the upcoming State Championship in November. “Expectations have increased. I am training hard. My biggest dream is to win an international medal for India. Billiards and snooker are not very popular in our country and I hope I can inspire more people to take to the sports.”
