CHENNAI: India’s cue sports legend Geet Sethi during a recent chat with this daily hailed S Shrikrishna as one of the most talented youngsters in the country. Shrikrishna is from Chennai and the current national U-21 billiards champion. He is also the runner-up in U-21 national snooker.For Shrikrishna, 2019 was a hectic year as he represented India in nine events in seven countries. He also bagged bronze in the Asian U-21 snooker championship. He has to wait this year because the world U-21 snooker meet has been postponed indefinitely.
The second-year BA philosophy student was looking forward to clearing the papers he could not write earlier because of his playing commitments. But semester exams scheduled for April have also been postponed. For a hyperactive person, these are challenging times.“It’s a blessing in disguise because it gives me an opportunity to eat food made by my mother (Gayathri, a former state-ranked player). She makes excellent vegetable biryani and pasta, in addition to the typical vegetarian dishes. I have been eating healthy and tasty home food,’’ said Shrikrishna.
“I was preparing for semester exams when the lockdown got extended. I have started my fitness routine, so that I can contain weight gain and get into rhythm. I am missing swimming because it relaxes me the most. The good part of the break is I am helping my mother in the kitchen and in cleaning, which I never did before.”The 20-year old does not get bored at home, as his father N Suryanarayanan is also his coach.
“We analyse a lot in terms of people, positions, situations, perspectives etc. In 2019 I won the senior and junior national billiards championships. This year I retained the junior crown but didn’t perform to potential in the senior event. So I am working on my game with my father.”Suryanarayanan makes it a point to analyse his son’s game and also that of his other students to keep them engaged during the lockdown. He studies videos and offers his inputs.
“We discuss the shots played, the effect, the bio-mechanics to deliver that shot, the options available on the table. One key thing we do is finding out the turning points in a game and also the behaviour of the player leading to such turning points. This helps in strategising the tactics that are implementable in a frame,” he said.