Turkey’s oldest snooker fan says she 'loves' Selby

ISTANBUL

“Grandma Fatma,” an 86-year-old from the Black Sea province of Trabzon, is the oldest snooker fan in Turkey and an uncompromising Mark Selby fan.

After her grandson Çağdaş Tok became a sports announcer 13 years ago, Fatma started to watch the television sport network Eurosport.

Snooker, being one of the sports Çağdaş was covering, has won the granny’s heart. She is now a die-hard supporter of the sport.

“I played football until I was 16. But when snooker is on [television], I cannot watch football. I get too excited. Watching snooker makes me happy,” the 86-year-old said in a recent interview with Eurosport Turkey.

Fatma said that at first snooker did not really draw her attention, but when the quiet and calm game was “spiced up with non-potting balls,” she started getting interested.

“After [John] Higgins’ championship, I got really attached to Eurosport. At that time, he came with his family and won the cup. I really liked that,” she said, referring to Scottish snooker player John Higgins’ championship in 2007.

She added that she also followed Australian snooker player Neil Robertson and British player Ronnie O’Sullivan’s championships, but what impressed her the most was Selby’s performance.

“After [Selby] won [the 2014 World Snooker Championship] he said that he made a promise to his father when he was in hospital, to be world champion and he cried. I got very emotional when he cried,” Fatma said.

The snooker devotee also underlined that she loved Selby very much that she regarded him as a son.
“When he gets on [television], I say ‘that’s my son,’” she said.

Grandma Fatma also reproached that snooker is not very popular in Turkey.

“Don’t we have a sponsor? It is being played in countries like Bulgaria and Romania, but is not being played [very much] in Turkey,” she said, expressing her hope that one day she would watch a snooker game live.

When asked about her favorite games, she said that this season’s first game between Luca Brecel and Mark Allen was pleasant to watch.

“They did not make any safety shots. When [players] make safety shots, the games get really long, that’s when I get bored,” she said, referring to a strategical shot made to obstruct the opponent’s possibility to pot and score.

Snooker is a game played with cues on a billiard table in which the players use a cue ball – the white ball – to pot the other balls, 15 red and six colored. With its low-tempo and calm nature, snooker is the sport to follow for those refraining to watch aggressive sports.