At just 11, Rayaan Razmi is cued up for big things

Ever seen a 11-year-old play snooker? Now imagine the same kid fighting it out with 300 others — most of them aged over 35 — at the Radio Club All India Open Handicap Snooker and Invitation Billiards Tournament in Colaba.

Rayaan Razmi is not your everyday boy. He is special. The Std VI student of St Mary's ICSE School, Mazgaon, won the same competition in the 'children' category at the Radio Club last year. Such has been his progress that the Parsi lad is now ranked fourth among juniors in the whole of Maharashtra. Razmi's performances may have earned him the tag of "that 11-year-old" at Radio Club, but he feels no pressure going into Sunday's first round snooker match. For the record, his opponent is 38.

Razmi took to the game only last year. It was his father, Neville, who introduced him to the game. "It didn't take me long to make up my mind and take a liking to the game. After watching my dad play, it was always a matter of when than if," he says. And he dislikes when people overlook him because of his age. "Why should anyone have a problem with my age?" he asks.

So promising is Razmi that two-time Asian champion Yasin Merchant has taken the lad under his wings. In fact, the duo trains together at the Khar Gymkhana every Sunday.

Knowing how less he gets to do what he loves the most, Razmi trains whenever he finds the time. There are days when he's plays for more than five hours.

While most kids his age take to sports just for fun, Razmi prefers to learn "life lessons" from it. "Cue sports help me plan things step by step, to know when to wait, and the right moment to strike."