Maharashtra, Haryana win big in junior, sub-junior at 89th National Snooker & Billiards

Indore: The junior (under-21) and sub junior competitions (under-18) of the 89th National Snooker and Billiards Championships concluded here at the Sage University Campus on Saturday.

While Shahyan Razmi of Maharashtra emerged as the sub junior billiards as well as sub junior snooker champion, his elder brother Rayaan Razmi defended his Junior Billiards title.

On the other hand, Haryana's Digvijay Kadian bagged the junior Snooker title.

"When I was 10-year-old, I used to see my father and brother go out somewhere everyday. Once I realised they are going out to play snooker, I joined them and soon got interested in it due to the colours involved," said Shahyan Razmi to The Bridge after winning twin titles here.

"In my first club tournament, I beat my brother in the final and so I started playing and enjoying it more," the 12th grader chuckled.

Shahyan, who had the highest breaks in the tournament in both billiards (126) and snooker (104), credited his brother for his showing in the tournament.

"I used to watch my brother win a lot of tournaments and bring home a lot of prizes. There were times when I just used to go to medal ceremonies just to witness him get those awards. That really pushed me to do keep performing my best," he said.

Rayaan, on the other side, credits his father for introducing him to the sport.

"My father plays snooker for recreation. I used to tag along with him and got addicted. Then I happened to win my first tournament and it worked as a motivation to do continue," he said.

Rayaan scored a record 10 centuries in the tournament, including 4 in the final against Kreishh Gurbaxani. He also had a highest break of 180 while defending his National Billiards title.

"The 10 centuries is something I will always cherish, and the fact that the event had 19 tables is something which we could not have imagined a few years back," he said.

"Hopefully a time will come when cue sports will grow in India. It has already grown a lot from when I started, and the BSFI is doing such a wonderful job in developing sport," he added.

The senior events at the 89th National Snooker and Billiards Championships kickstarted on Sunday and will go on till 29th December 2022.

Results

Sub Junior Snooker

Winner: Shahyan Razmi (Maharashtra), Runner up: Mayur Garg (Gujarat)

Sub Junior Billiards

Winner: Shahyan Razmi (Maharashtra), Runner up: Mayank Karthik (Karnataka)

Junior Snooker

Winner: Digvijay Kadian (Haryana), Runner up: Ranveer Duggal (Chhattisgarh)

Junior Billiards

Winner: Rayaan Razmi (Maharashtra), Runner up: Kreishh Gurbaxani (Maharashtra)