His objective is clear. He knew what he wanted. And that is to have a systemic training in Foshan Wiraka Billiard Academy. That is how an 11 years old Indian boy, Jonah traveled thousands of miles from his city, Chennai, India to Foshan city, China.
Jonah got to know about snooker at a young age of 6, however he started his formal training 2 years ago at age of 9. After showing dedication in snooker practice and obtaining good results from local tournaments. Jonah’s parents, Antony and Sarah decided to let their son pursue his passion. They knew about Wiraka and its Head Coach, Roger Leighton on the internet and after reaching out to both parties, they decided to set off to China with Jonah’s lovely elder sister, Andrea.
The travel from India to China was more exhausted than expected. They did a layover in Hong Kong followed by a coach transfer to Foshan. Finally, reached Wiraka Billiard Academy on Monday afternoon.
Like Rigid Snooker training started on Tuesday and ended on Friday, each day varies between 2 hours to 3 hours of systematic training, focusing on hitting the ball straight, changing basic posture, correcting his aiming and increases his knowledge and awareness around the black ball. Roger Leighton also wanted to make sure that his basic foundation is both excellent and consistent. Roger commented that Jonah is a smart and dedicated boy who is able to absorb new information quickly. After each strict training session, Jonah would feel both physically and mentally tired however under the family and Roger encouragement, the lovely polite boy improved tremulously.
Like Many young snooker player,Jonah’s favorite player is Ronnie O’Sullivan. He enjoys watching his games on TV and hopes to be like him one day. Antony and Sarah implemented a reward system for Jonah. Each time he wants to have his favorite ice cream, he would have to complete a tough practice. Sarah mentioned that Chennai is about 42 degree hence this system helps. Needless to said, the house fridge is filled with ice creams.
Jonah wasn’t born in a family of snooker.Anthony is an engineer but since his son enjoys it so much, he decided to encourage his passion.Antony emphasized further that even though the family supports Jonah’s passion, a child’s education is still a priority. Jonah is going to Grade 7 and could only come to China for during school holidays. Even though Antony and Sarah have been to China many times, Jonah and his sister have not been to China before. The family took some time off to explore Foshan. They went to Xiqiao Mountain and saw the Goddess of Mercy. They observed that even though Foshan has a huge population like Chennai, the city is organized and neat. The people here are kind and always laughing.
Just a short 6 days in China, Antony and his family left with a good impression and the intention to return and join the 2018 Asian City Snooker Team Championship organizedby Wiraka Billiard Academy.