Bengaluru: This poignant moment was amid Michal Szubarczyk’s World Men’s (Under-21) final against Alexander Widau at the Karnataka State Billiards Association on Saturday.
As they went into the customary long break after four frames, Widau was on his phone before his coach joined him. Michal was meandering about with a pack of biscuits before settling down on a long bench within eye-shot of his opponent.
All this transpired in the cards room of the club, and the contrasting expressions of the players were telling of the situation they were in.
Michal was up 3-1 in a best-of-nine final and was zoning out of the tense environment by zoning into the news, in Hindi no less. He just wanted to wander outside his head for a few minutes.
Widau, the tournament favourite, who was put under the pump by a 13-year-old boy, was trying to find a way out of the predicament, but he had to get into his head to see what was going wrong.
As the proceeding two frames would show, Widau never got out of his head for he and his game were both surgically dismantled by Michal.
Michal, the newly crowned world champion - the youngest one in history no less, was able to go in and out of flow state on demand.
It’s not a trait he was very good at until recently, but when you have your phone thrown out of the fourth floor of the building you’re residing in, you tend to focus your energies on what is asked of you.
“He was addicted to his phone, and it’s not easy for him,” says father Kamil Szubarczyk while Michal smiling by him nods in affirmation. “But, we decided that we were going to achieve something here so we had to focus on what needed to be done and not let these silly distractions come in the way of the process so I threw the phone out (laughs).”
Strangely, Kamil says so now because Michal’s love for the sport began as a distraction as he watched television incessantly. Snooker became the go-to because Kamil liked watching it. It became a ritual, a
Kamil had dabbled in the sport as much as his country would allow it, but Poland doesn’t have a tradition of snooker. There are only a handful of professional snooker players to have come out of the country.
All of these factors make the commitment Kamil and Michal have made to sport all the more impressive.
“He was initially mentored by someone else, but then I had to learn the sport because I knew this was his calling,” says Kamil. “His growth curve was rapid so within a few months we decided that we would strive towards him becoming a professional. It was a sudden realisation but we were committed to it.”
The problem, however, was that the Polish sports ministry spares little money for snooker, meaning the father-son duo had to carefully pick and choose tournaments to play. Kamil even became a referee to ensure he could be around Michal on his journey while making the money to make ends meet.
The reason why you don’t hear much of Michal’s views in this piece is because he doesn’t say much, and even when he does he tends to sandbag his abilities and what the future could hold for him.
“I am surprised to have won this title,” says Michal after being coronated. “I thought I would only go so far as the semifinals.”
Kamil steps in quick: “The problem with Mike is that he doesn’t believe in himself. Maybe this tournament will change that.”
Interestingly enough, a similar exchange presented itself when Michal and Kamil were queried earlier in the tournament.
When asked about his biggest dream, Michal said: “I want to be a professional player.”
Kamil stepped in: “…playing professional snooker is not your biggest dream, Mike, think bigger…”
Michal looked towards his dad, looked down, looked up, blinked rapidly, and said: “I want to be the professional world champion.”
The youngster has some way to go before reaching the demanding levels of the professional circuit, but he surely does have the fundamentals to build on.
More significantly, he has someone on his side who is bent on pushing towards a collective dream which has the potential to become a collective reality.