Albuquerque’s Anna Kostanian, 18, is only 4-foot-11 but has high hopes in pro billiards
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
July 21, 2006 Friday
When Anna Kostanian first started playing billiard tournaments at
age 13, she heard all the requisite "short" jokes.
"You can’t play unless you’re 5 feet tall" seemed to be a favorite.
Fortunately, Kostanian didn’t treat the admonition like it was a
warning sign for youngsters at an amusement park ride.
No, she went ahead and played the game; played well enough that many
of the adult jokesters, men and women alike, were soundly beaten.
Soon, the detractors changed their tune. "They were telling me I had
a natural talent, so I stuck with it," Kostanian says.
Today, at age 18, Kostanian is still playing and – at 4-foot-11 –
she remains short.
In the world of billiards, however, Kostanian stands tall.
Last week she won the 19-and-under national billiards championship
in Tucson and a few days ago turned professional. Kostanian soon will
join the Women’s Professional Billiards Association tour.
Kostanian’s progress in the game has been remarkable.
The second daughter of Hrair Kostanian, owner of The Billiard Palace
at Wyoming and Menaul, didn’t start playing until age 10 after she
had moved to Albuquerque. At that time, her dad owned Pro Billiards
at the corner of Candelaria and Juan Tabo – currently the site of a
Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse.
Anna was born in Armenia, but moved to the United States when she
was 1. The family lived in Los Angeles until she was about 8, before
making the move to the Duke City. Kostanian says she’s not sure why
her family moved here – "I honestly don’t know, I never asked them"
– but she can’t quibble with the results.
It would be reasonable to guess that older sister Izolda was
responsible for luring Anna into picking up a cue. But, Izolda, 19,
disproves the theory that proximity of age in siblings keeps them
close through similar interests. "She doesn’t like bars," Anna says,
completely relaxed while sitting at the Palace. "I like it here.
Everything is free for me."
Kostanian, who graduated from Eldorado High School in the spring,
says she has not considered an advanced education. She plans to put
all her energies into the WPBA tour, where the top players, she says,
can make a million dollars a year through prize money, sponsors and
endorsements.
Currently, she says, Arroyo del Oso director of golf Tony Hidalgo
is her only sponsor, taking care of Kostanian’s airline flights to
places like San Diego, North Carolina, Illinois and Miami.
The tour has 10 major competitions. To remain a professional, she
has to enter at least eight events and finish in the upper half
of the standings in four. One of the competitions has been held at
Albuquerque’s Sandia Casino the past few years. Kostanian, obviously,
is looking forward to entering that event and playing before hometown
fans. This year’s tour stop is scheduled for Oct. 18-22.
Kostanian says each event begins with 64 players, half of those
automatic bids for fulltime participants. The other 32 go to qualifiers
and those who receive invitations or sponsors’ exemptions.
Kostanian says from what she’s seen, most of the women on the tour
get along well and have a lot of respect for each another. She says
they all tend to stay at the same motels.
Also, she says, there do not seem to be head games with one player
attempting to psych out another. But, if that were to come about,
Kostanian has an advantage. It has to do with being vertically
challenged.
All she has to do is tell them what she already believes:
"I think being short in pool is an advantage. You are closer to the
table and you can see the lines better."