In the run-up to the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines that are set to start on November 30, the Myanmar Times speaks local contenders in several sports to learn more about their background, their preparations and their hopes for the event. Myanmar’s best billiards player and Asian billiards champion, Nay Thway Oo, speaks with sports reporter Sithu Aung Myo Kyaw about his preparations for the games.
One of the first things that Asian billiards champion Nay Thway Oo reveals about himself is that his father has played a big role in his career.
“My father was my first teacher,” Nay Thway Oo says.
Being an Asian champion and also having captured many medals in the SEA Games, it would be safe to say that Nay Thway Oo is the best player in Myanmar’s billiards community.
He was born in 1970 in Yangon and was the quiet son in the family. Billiards was introduced to him at an early age.
His parents run a billiards parlour and this giving him a good opportunity to be familiar with the game.
While pursuing his education, he became national player after contesting local competitions in 1996.
The family’s business and his parents’ encouragement made a huge effect on his decision to focus on billiards and snooker. He became more and more skillful, especially in billiards.
But it was tough time before he was selected as national player as he had to go wherever there were billiards tables available for training. In those days it was not unusual for him to get home late at night.
Nay Thway Oo’s skill with snooker also improved along the way as he played amateur matches on 6-foot tables. He became a professional snooker player at the age of 26.
This was at a time when snooker has just become popular in Myanmar. Before then, billiards had been more popular thanks to the influence of the British. Myanmar used to be represented by billiards players such as Kyaw Oo and Aung San Oo.
In those days, he was only chosen to represent Myanmar in snooker as he was not yet good enough to match his seniors in billiards, he said.
In 2003, he was chosen by the Myanmar Snooker Sports Federation for the Sea Games in Vietnam but he did not win any medals.
As snooker was just becoming popular in Myanmar and people were more interested in billiards, it was difficult to win medals, said Nay Thway Oo.
“I didn’t know the techniques of snooker well enough and I felt inferior when I was defeated. Then, I decided not to play snooker at all,” said Nay Thway Oo.
He gave up snooker and chose billiards again since it was a game he had played from his youth.
After opting to focus on billiards, he began to stand out more and had successes in Asian and Southeast Asian competitions.
Being selected for the SEA Games has made him happy and motivated.
“I was so happy after I was selected for the SEA Games. This sport is not like other sports that require speed or strength. It needs a calm mind most. This makes it suitable for the different age groups. So long as I have a good eyesight, I can play even when I am older. That’s one of the reasons I chose the game.”
As with any sport, there are times when things get tough, but he says he always manages to get through such times thanks to the support of his family. Although he faced difficulties finding venues to practice in previously, the situation is now much better since he has been selected as a national player.
“The major thing is training. I see improvement when I can practise. During our competition period, the federation trains us from morning to evening,” Nay Thway Oo said, adding that the training includes mental strengthening.
“As billiard and snookers need concentration, I need to meditate as well,” he said.
“When I go to international tournaments, I notice things. One of the things holding us back is a lack of resources. Our country is not rich. So, while rich countries can improve their sports with financial support, our country’s representatives often start their chosen sports as hobbies. If we are to compete at the international level, we have to be on equal footing but that’s not the case now. There are many things needed to nurture the next generation,” he said.
He says some of his fondest memories come from the toughest matches he has had to play.
The most difficult matches in his life were the ones with Indian player Pankaj Advani in 2018 and 2019 World Billiards Championship.
Both matches were very hard and he lost in the finals.
The matches with Advani, a world-class player, were more difficult than other matches as Nay Thway Oo was playing on home ground.
“We have a vast difference in abilities that we can display. Sometimes, we don’t perform well due to a lack of familiarity with a strange environment and tournament. We are not used to foreign venues while other teams and athletes have the opportunity to compete in many countries in the world throughout the year, while we can only go to the countries in the Southeast Asia. So, we have much less experience than they do, and may not be able to compete well in the matches in foreign countries,” he said.
He says his most memorable match is the World Billiards Championship in 2017 where he emerged third.
He says the match stands out because he was playing a form of the game where players have to secure 500 points to win against an Indian opponent. Nay Thway Oo needed more than 300 points to win, but his opponent needed only three.
“Somehow, I managed to find the mental strength to hold on and take over with two shots. I won the game with 500 points, and he got 499. It was such a memorable game in my life, because it’s quite difficult to win the game by a margin of only one point,” Nay Thway Oo said.
He says he owes a lot to his father U Tin Oo who was the first teacher and guided him throughout his career, adding that he also learned from the senior players by watching how they play. He says his favourite player is Mike Russell of England, who has won multiple championships, he said.
“Russell is my idol. He once taught us here in Myanmar. Another player I like is Advani from India. He’s just over 33, but has won more than 22 trophies,” he said.
Nay Thway Oo says he plans to continue as a player as long as possible, but when his playing career is over he would like to be a trainer so he can share his experience with younger players.
When he retires, he will spend more time with his family but for now he is sorry as he has to spend a lot of his time training.
He aims to win gold in the Philippines and is practising at Aung San Stadium every day of the week except Sunday.
“For me, gold in the SEA Games is more important than the world event and I am training hard for it,” he said.
“I am preparing especially to win a gold medal in the SEA Games. To win a gold medal in the coming SEA games is my biggest ambition now,” he said. – Translated
Myanmar’s Greatest Athletes is a series of interviews with five of local sportsmen and women who will represent Myanmar at the upcoming Sea Games in the Philippines. These profiles tell the stories of each athlete and how they train, why and how they became involved in their sport and shed light on what inspires them to commit and compete. The 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines will begin on Saturday, November 30 and ends on Wednesday, December 11.
About 10,000 athletes from11 countries in Southeast Asia will be competing in 56 sports in the biennial event. The games are held under the auspices of the South East Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia. More than 500 sportsmen and women (including coaches) from Myanmar will participate in 31 sports with dreams of winning medals.
