Articles

SNOOKER IS A BIG HEALER

Living in a strife-torn country, where bombs, missiles and death can come any time, it takes guts and single-minded purpose for a sportsperson to excel in his field. Coming from a Country Where the Last major Snooker Tournament Was Held over Eight Years Back, It was This rare Combination That helped 17 Years Old Syrian Cuiest Ya-zan al-Hadad become the Reigning U-18 National champion.

Last week in Chandigarh for the Asian U-21 snooker championship for boys and spoke to TOI about his chequered life. Football was Yazan's first love, but the civil war obliterated it. As Yazan explained, "No football grounds are left in my neighbourhood. People are scared of coming out."

Three years ago, an explosive-laden man blew himself up 10 metres from Yazan's house at Kafar Sousah In killing eight people, including Yazan's best friend, and left him with psychological scars. He even lost his voice due to the shock and still struggles to speak normally.

"The death of his friend affected him so deeply that his family had to seek psychiatric help for his vocal cords to function again," said Basem Aboud - his coach and interpreter. Yazan shook his head after catching a few English phrases spoken by his coach.

 A year later, Yazan lost his elder brother, who was fighting against ISIS for the Syrian military. "He was very close to his brother. Both of them used to love playing football with their coach father. There is a big poster of Lionel Messi in his room” Said Baseem.

Thankfully, when Yazan suffered these shocks, snooker had already happened to him, and it played a big role in his recovery. Basem said, "We have a club in Kafar Sousah, it has just two tables. He used to come and see some people playing. He took up the sport in 2014."

Syria hosted a major snooker tournament last time in December 2010, and three months later, the war broke out which led to the bloodbath, and no room for sport. "There were 1,200 registered snooker clubs across the country with an average of 100 players in each. In 2013, Syria won the bronze medal in the men's team event at the Asian indoor games in South Korea. Now, there is no official count of clubs or players," recollects Basem. "Many clubs were destroyed in the bombings and lots of players fled the country, most of them to Europe," he added.

When asked why his family hadn't migrated to Europe, Yazan replied, "It is our home. Yes, we are afraid of the terrorists, not because we are cowards, but because we are human."

This article reminds me of one of my own experiences relating to this sport in my life which I started playing about 55 years ago. Here I am sharing one of the experiences with readers. About 45 years ago, I fell severely ill and not able to recover from my illness, that time I thought to go to nearby snooker parlour for a change. After playing for few hours, I came back to my home and pleasantly surprised to found that I recovered from my illness and after that day I tried this method whenever I use to fell ill and this game healed my illness and gave me full energy every time.

 

                   RKG

(RAVINDRA KUMAR GUPTA)

 

Source: TOI

Written By : Pratyush Raj

Related Articles

Quarter Final Round Up-european Masters

Shanghai Masters 2016

Indian Open 2016

Geet Sethi-the True Champion Of Green Baize

Geet Sethi-the True Champion Of Green Baize

A Step In The Right Direction.

The Week That Belong To “genius” Pankaj Advani

Whoever Called Snooker Chess With Balls Was Rude But Right Looking For Perfection Is The Only Way To Motivate Yourself

Finally A Great Start To 2017

Aditya Mehta The Star Of Indian Snooker

Trusting The Process

The Memorable Journey

147th Birthday Of Mahatma Gandhi

Yet Another Deserving Award For Golden Boy

Indian Queen Of The Green

A Look Back, And Ahead

Saga Of Snooker World Championship

A Natural Born Talent Of Snooker-ding Junhui

Looking Forward To Compete In Riga Masters

Jamie Blog About His Performance At Riga Masters

Disability Was No Barrier For Raja

Jamie Blog

Ryan Day Blog

Jamie's Blog After The Paul Hunter Classic

Ryan Day's Blog After China Championship

Welcome Indian Open 2017 With Full Enthusiasm.

Raja Subramanian Expressed Gratitude After Receiving Award By Rkg

Ding Junhui Dynasty And China Snooker Takeover

Well! It’s A Time To Enjoy 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup

I Am Ready For The European Masters After World Open.

I Hope It Doesn' T Happen Again After World Open- Ryan Day

Rkg Mesmerizing Journey Of Kumaon

Wishing You All A Very Gleeful And Amazing Diwali To The Entire Cue Games Lovers.

Jamie Jones Blog After European Masters

Ryan Day Words After European Masters:

Jamie Jones Words After English Open

Thank You To Rkg Snooker For Their Continued Support -jamie Jones

Rkg Snooker Are Supporting Me For, I Am Delighted To Have Progressed."

A Big Thank You To Rkg Snooker For Supporting Me- Ryan Day

Looking Forward To Compete In My First Champion Of Champions Event- Ryan Day

I Am Feeling Good With My Game- Jamie Jones

Jamie Jones Blog - Northern Ireland

Wishing You All A Very Happy New Year 2k18

Getting Back In The Masters After So Many Years Was Brilliant- Ryan Day

Billiards Player Pankaj Advani And Cricketer Ms Dhoni Conferred With Padma Bhushan By President Ram Nath Kovind At Rashtrapati Bhawan In Delhi

Jamie Jones Words After World Open

Ryan Day Words After World Open

Jamie Jones Blog After Riga Masters

Ryan Day Words After Riga Masters

Happy Birthday Andhra Pradesh's Cueist- I.v Rajiv

Paul Hunter Classic

China Championship

Shanghai Masters

China Championship

A Very Happy Birthday To The Sun Of Indian Snooker Player Aditya Mehta

To The World Billiards Champion!

Happy Birthday To The Dharminder Singh Lilly (big Boss) Of Cue Sports From Rkg Snooker.

Happy Birthday Kolkata West Bengal's Cueist- Brijesh Damani

Rkg Snooker Wishes A Very Happy Birthday To The Genius That Is Ronnie O'sullivan

Ding Junhui Won The Asian Snooker Championship (under 21) At The Age Of 15 In Kolkata- August 2002

“ryan Day Is A Class Act And A Class Player” - Ronnie O’sullivan

My Amazing Experience At London Masters 2019

Proud Of You Laxman Rawat Snooker Shootout 2019

Indian Open At Incredible India Has Opened The Way To Success For Players

Women Proving Their Mettle In Every Field..

Ronnie The Rocket Reaching The Comet!

Congratulations To Two Time Open Disability Championship Winner Raja Iyer

Rkg Indian 2nd 10 Red Snooker Championship 2019 In Nainital

A Bright Future Awaits You

Pankaj Advani Adds One More Title To His Silverware Collection

Pleased To Challenge The Fantasy That You Can Not Have Some Expertise In Both Billiards And Snooker: Pankaj Advani

Pankaj Advani Won 22nd World Title

Tarun Chandra : A Great Personality And A Great Sportsperson

World Snooker Championship 2020