Imagine using only one steady hand to hold the cue during a snooker game, while your other hand, trembling non-stop, remains useless.
Despite dealing with this inhibition every day, Hong Kong’s only disabled snooker player Andy Lam Kai-ming still competes against able-bodied as well as single-handed players.
Lam, who has suffered from hypoxia since birth, explained that his left hand cramps non-stop.
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“The frequency of trembling is like an operating massage chair,” the 50-year-old Lam said. “It doesn’t stop until my body is fully relaxed, and I always need up to 45 minutes to just fall asleep every night.”
The disability not only impedes Lam during competitive snooker, which he has been playing against local able-bodied opponents for the past decade, but also affects his daily life.
“Say when I go to the supermarket, I could still use the fingers on my left hand to grab the plastic bag,” he said. “The weight I can carry is about two bottles of water.
Lam also recalled feeling “ashamed” when a classmate helped tie his shoelaces back in his primary school days. It prompted him to figure out how to tie them single-handedly, a skill he has since mastered.
Having never competed against single-handed opponents, Lam learned about a tournament for disabled players in the UK and looked into signing up.
“I had only travelled to Japan or Thailand with my family,” he said. “Luckily, the doctor I had been consulting helped me ask about the tournament.
“He even booked the ticket and hotel for me and sorted out my local transport.”
Lam competed against other athletes in the Group 3 classification, a category for ambulant players where one or more arms or hands are absent or severely impaired. These players would be unable to make a traditional bridge for their cue.
In his overseas debut at the 2018 Fizz Open Disability Snooker Championship, Lam failed to make it past the group stage, but it did not deter the Hongkonger. He returned the next year to defeat English champion Nigel Coton 3-1 in the Humble Classic final to claim his maiden title.
“Those who love sports surely want to play in official competitions, and being able to get results was a great affirmation for me too,” Lam said.
The results have not yet been sufficient to bring Lam any government subsidies. In the meantime, he has designed his own special rest, an aid to help him play, and found a 3D printing company to build it.
After the Covid-19 pandemic forced a competition hiatus, Lam rejoined the international tournaments in July, reaching the Irish Open Group 3 final.
That defeat was soon followed in September by a class title at the WDBS (World Disability Billiards and Snooker) Shanghai Invitational Disability Snooker Cup, played in a six-reds format.
Ranked eighth in the world among 11 players, Lam will soon represent Hong Kong for the first time at the World Abilitysport Games, which will be held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from December 1 to 9.
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