In the ongoing Otters-BSAM Snooker League, Rayaan Razmi entered as the top dog. But even then the first sets of games were beyond his expectation. Opponents who were ranked below him toppled the Maharashtra Junior number one with an enormous difference in points.

Bewildered by his own decision of changing his cue stance, the 16-year old was aware of his mistake. It had caused his team Radio Fusion to plummet poorly in the group stages of the league. However, the youngster is clever enough to realise his mistake. “I was trying the textbook stance,” he says.

“I saw that it was not working well for me. Opponents ranked far below me had won with big margins. I knew that the best option is to return to my usual stance.”

In the second round, the lad’s presence was felt. His feat helped Radio Fusion clinch identical 3-2 margin of victories, in both the home away fixtures against DG Fighters in second round Section-C league matches, during the second week.

His acumen proved helpful as Rayaan won all his four frames, two  at home and two in the away match, which earned Radio Club five points, including a bonus point for winning both the ties.

Playing on the home tables, Rayaan (+30 handicap) with a tidy break of 31 outplayed Abhinay Edke (+25) 111-38 in the first 15-Red singles frame and put his team in front.

But, Rayaan’s younger brother Shahyan Razmi (+45) lost the second, also a 15-Red singles tie, to Ashish Jain (+60) by a close 94-121 margin. Later, Rayaan’s father Neville Razmi combined well with Anuj Mahajan (+24) to defeat the visiting team’s combination of Kiran Chedda and Aashit Pandya (+21) 68-47 in the 9-Red doubles match, to regain the lead.

The visitors once again leveled the scores when Ashish Jain for the second time prevailed over Shahyan 120-81 and force the deciding fifth frame. Displaying steely nerves and a good temperament Rayaan managed to once again overcome Abhinay Edke, by a narrow 68-60 scoreline in the fifth frame and seal Radio Club’s win.

In the away match, Shahyan’s poor run continued as he lost the opening frame to Jain 89-107 before his brother Rayaan produced another terrific performance to snatch a tight 72-70 win against Pandya in the second frame.

In the final fifth frame, Rayaan once again rose to the challenge and this time tamed Edke 83-65 to complete a satisfying victory for the Radio Club team.

A new challenge beckons

The 16-year old cueist excels in both- snooker and billiards while training with father Neville Razmi at Radio Club. In 2018, he was out of most of the tournaments because of his board exams. He marked his return with a gold medal in the state championship staying as the number one player of Maharashtra.

Not the bigger challenge of time is in his path. “I have just started my junior college in HR. The problem is that my college timings are from 2 to 6:40 pm. That are the same timings for the billiards room as well,” says Rayaan who also scored 93% in his board exams.

“I guess with time I have to manage both the things. My college does not have strict attendance rules so I might skip some days to train. Both things can easily  go hand in hand,” he adds.

The way the youngster understands and perceives the game, he is sure to climb the ladder to become the finest in the country.