In September 2021, in the aftermath of the covid pandemic, Tom Tan decided to use some of the now unused space in his Tai San Chef restaurant to set-up some snooker tables, where he then established the Chicago Snooker Academy.

"Our family restaurant had been open for almost 20 years," said Tan. "And because of the pandemic we were forced to shut our dine-in service down. After many changes to the restaurant, I decided to use some of the unused space to initially house two snooker tables. This would give me the opportunity to enjoy some snooker time while also working in the restaurant. So I purchased two Star snooker tables, and with the help of many friends we created the Chicago Snooker Academy which has had a great response from local players."

Tan has a love for all cue sports which was nurtured while growing up in China. He recalls: "I was hooked after playing in the first pool hall which opened in our little town while attending boarding school. Later I had an opportunity to play on a full-size snooker table in a bigger city and fell in love with it."

After moving to the United States, Tan then played pool almost every day on his college campus in Chicago. "I then found a couple of pool halls, one with a snooker table and started playing snooker as much as I could.

"I've always enjoyed the satisfaction of pocketing balls, and was always fairly good at that aspect of the game. Although my tactical play was never as good, I was lucky enough to have met some great friends that taught me so much about the games of pool and snooker throughout the years."

But out of all the billiard sports he has played, snooker is Tan's passion. "I've always dreamt about owning a snooker table in my house," he said. "When I was looking for a new house, one requirement was to have a basement with enough room for a snooker table.

"I practiced and played on my own snooker table for years, but because there were no real snooker halls to meet and play other people I then stopped playing and only played pool for a period of time. Then one day by accident, I finally found a snooker club with three snooker tables called Dariya's Place, so I started playing again at least once or twice a week for hours, met some great friends and snooker fanatics like me that will play for hours non-stop each time.

"Unfortunately, that club was closed right before the pandemic in 2020. Covid changed everything, so I started practicing at home again. I have never really enjoyed practicing alone, as I prefer competition. Once the lock down started to open up however, I rushed out to play at Chris's Billiards in Chicago where they have two snooker tables. One of the tables was very old and never played very well. The second table was set up properly by a local snooker enthusiast called Marcin Namojlik. He and I became good friends through our time playing together."

The Chicago Snooker Academy is now a regular practice spot for some of the area's best snooker players such as Renat Denkha, who was the runner-up in the 2021 Pan American Snooker Championship Open event and has represented the United States in other international snooker championships, and other notable national level players who reguarly compete in the United States National Snooker Championship such as Arif Mahmood, Rajneesh Bansal, Mike Monegato and Praveen Sehgal.

Tan added: "We have been getting so many players who want to play and compete I decided to recently move my home table to the Academy to allow for more players to enjoy playing, so we now have three snooker tables. We have hosted a few tournaments with great turnouts and will be working to host at least one tournament each month. And we have just starting a Snooker League that will have every competitor play one match against each other, and the top either players will play in a one day tournament."

The Chicago Snooker Academy also features three Mevo streaming cameras with a tablet at each table, which streams to their Facebook page if players wish to go live while they play. The Academy also has 4K security camera footage that can record moments or breaks that players want. These videos are great for everyone to enjoy and learn from.

For more details about the Chicago Snooker Academy:

Chicago Snooker Academy @ Tai San Chef
2813 83rd Street
Darien   IL 60561
Tel: (630) 985-5006

Website: https://www.ChicagoSnooker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoSnooker
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chicagosnooker