When S. Shrikrishna misses a shot, he turns to the spectator gallery, where his parents are seated. He may be looking for sympathy, but he does not get any. His father and mother stare back with little emotion, even as their son knocks the cue on the floor in frustration.
Chennai lad Shrikrishna, all of 16, settles down quickly, and it is back to playing the game.
“We don’t want to encourage his acts of frustration, so we don’t react. But as he cues up to play a bad shot, his mother gets irritated and whispers to me that Shrikrishna is making a mistake. She gets it right every single time,” Shrikrishna’s father, Suryanarayanan, says.
The odd error, however, has not stopped Shrikrishna from making his mark at the IBSF World billiards championship under way here. The teenager toppled seasoned campaigner B. Bhaskar to make it to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Rupesh Shah.
It all started at the Mylapore Club, where Suryanarayanan is a member.
“At the age of 10, Shrikrishna wanted to play billiards, but the club said he was too young. He then challenged a member to a game. It was the first time he ever held a cue stick, yet he made a few pots, in-offs and cannons,” Suryanarayanan says.
As time wore on, Shrikrishna’s skill on the green baize was there for all to see. At this juncture, Suryanarayanan made a brave decision. An IIM-Kozhikode graduate, he decided to quit his lucrative corporate career in order to guide Shrikrishna.
Suryanarayanan credits his wife, Gayathri (a former State-level snooker player), for supporting him during his tough phase.
“My wife received advice from so many people. They ask her ‘Why has your husband quit his job? Tell him to go back to work, and tell Shrikrishna to concentrate on his studies’. Gayathri, however, supported me fully,” he says.
This decision has set the family back financially. “We’ve been eating out of our savings. I hope that he gets sponsorship soon to meet our tournament expenses, because that is where we spend most of our money,” Suryanarayanan, who acts as Shrikishna’s coach, says.
Shrikrishna understands that a lot rides on him. “My parents tell me to just focus on playing the game, and not to think of anything else,” Shrikrishna says.
