What started off as a passion for 13-year-old snooker and billiards player Itlapuram Lahari is now helping her win laurels for the state.
Lahari, who participated in her second nationals recently in Pune won the national girls sub-junior snooker title and is currently ranked No.1 in the country. She was the runner-up in the sub-junior billiards event and is India No.2 in the category.
With age not being a barrier as she is an expert in snooker, Lahari even entered the last-16 of the ladies snooker event.
“The nationals are a very good experience for me as I get to play India’s best,” says Lahari, who is a Class eight student at St Ann’s School, Secunderabad.
“I am looking forward to playing more tournaments so that I can improve my game,” she adds.
About her recent challenge at the Nationals in Pune, Lahari stunned Sania Arif of Chandigarh for the national sub-junior snooker title. “It was a great moment for me as I defeated Sania Arif 49-36, 41-26, 41-25. It was special because I created a record there,” says Lahiri who has set the highest break record of 32 in national juniors snooker.
In billiards, Lahari finished runner-up. On her way to the final, she defeated Sania Arif of Chandigarh and Varsha Sanjeev of Karnataka. However, she went down to Keerath Bandal of Delhi in the title clash.
“I was sad after the defeat. But at the same time, it makes me more determined to perform better next time,” she adds. Aiming to be a doctor like her father, Lahari balances her studies well with the game. “I dedicate a good amount of time to the game as well as my studies. Since my favourite subject is Physics, I don’t regret the decision of taking up a sport like billiards and snooker as I feel there is a lot of application of physics in to the game,” she says.