A girl from Bethesda, Maryland, is making waves in local pool halls, setting her sights on becoming a professional player. The only thing that sets apart from the professionals she competes with is her age — she’s only 10 years old.
Tanvee Vallem wants to break into a sport where young competitors are rare.
“She’s really interested in the game,” said her father, Sree Vallem. “She always looks to learn more.”
Vallem’s pool journey began when she was just 8 years old, after her father bought a pool table for himself to shoot around on as a hobby.
It wasn’t long before his daughter developed an interest and picked up a pool cue herself.
“She is the one who wants to learn, and she likes the competitive nature of the game,” Sree Vallem said. “Even though she doesn’t have the full knowledge of the game, what she does is she still keeps on trying.”
Corr teaches her lessons at Street Lights Billiards Academy, a members-only pool hall in Alexandria, Virginia.
“It’s fabulous to be able to pass on the knowledge to the young ones,” Corr said. “I get a lot of pleasure out of it.”
Corr has won a long list of tournaments nationally and globally. She was ranked as the number one best female pool player in the world by the Women’s Professional Billiard Association in the early 2000s, and she was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 2012.
“This young lady — she’ll be a little superstar,” Corr said, describing Tanvee. “As she grows, her stance and will change a little bit, but her stroke is really good and she’s shooting really straight, and that’s the most important thing.”
Tanvee has been getting experience in high-pressure situations by playing in high-level tournaments, traveling as far as Puerto Rico, Austria and New Zealand to compete.
Even in tournaments for junior players, Tanvee is usually the youngest person there.
“I really like the strategy involved and how specific you have to be in order to hit a simple shot,” Tanvee Vallem said. “It’s really cool to play pool and know that there’s a lot more to learn.”
She said her goal is to “just try my best and fix my mistakes.”
“If I lose a game or if I miss a shot, I try to analyze it and try to see how I can improve,” Tanvee Vallem said.
She showed her competitive side as she described what it’s like to play people she knows.
“I played against my friends before,” she said. “We’re really good friends, but when I’m on the table, we’re not friends at all.”
The owner of Street Lights Billiards Academy, Deon Chapman, is hoping to play a role in growing the popularity of pool among younger players such as Tanvee.
He even launched a juniors league at his pool hall, which is open to all players under 18 years old.
“I will be covering all related costs for each junior to participate,” Chapman said. “There will be absolutely no cost to the parent or the junior.”
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