"We want the club to be a school of one of the most fun games"

BarcelonaThe mind of Aleix Melià (Barcelona, 1996) doesn't rest. With his serious gaze, he's always making plans, whether he's playing or working. This native of Barcelona is one of the best European players of snooker, the spectacular form of billiards played on a much larger table than other disciplines like three-cushion billiards. "It looks easy, right?" he says as a novice learns the arts of this discipline. On a billiard table like those found in many places, you can sink a ball at the far end of the table even if you're not an expert. In snooker, the distance is much greater and requires a lot of skill.

Aleix teaches how to place your hand, your body, your arm. He teaches body posture and the details of this spectacular discipline that holds no secrets for him. "The British invented it in India during the 19th century," he says. He spent a summer in England as a young man to learn to play snooker. Other boys asked to go to summer camp, and he already knew he wanted to dedicate himself to snooker. He lives it so intensely that winning medals in Spanish championships isn't enough for him. Now he's taken a step forward and opened the first snooker club in Barcelona, with four spectacular tables where enthusiasts are already flocking. The Century Snooker Academy has opened its doors in the Congrés i els Indians neighborhood, becoming the great personal project of a group of billiards enthusiasts. "In Barcelona, we don't have facilities to play it. There are some tables hidden in other clubs or a bar. There was a private club that had a table in Sant Andreu, but unlike other places, we don't have an exclusive snooker club. So we created one," he explains. Instead of complaining, they've taken action, convinced that more and more people will join. "It's fun, whether you're watching or playing. You have a good time as you learn and even more so when you master it. The idea is to create a school and also be able to organize tournaments here," he says. They also want to organize Spanish championships and gain more members. "If we grow a lot, it will become too small for us," he says optimistically.

Melià works at Deloitte, where he is a tax lawyer. While playing, he plots trajectories, and when he's working, his mind doesn't stop either. But it wasn't easy to balance a demanding job with his sports career. For years, when he could, he would sneak off to a billiards hall in Sant Andreu that had a snooker table. Now that he has opened the club, he has set aside a corner where he can work when he can telecommute. This way, he won't waste time going back and forth to Barcelona, as he needs hours to train and compete at a high level against the best European players, many of whom are professionals. "You can't be a professional here, we're far from the British, or from Belgium and Poland," he comments. The club is the major life project for its partners. "I discovered billiards thanks to my grandfather, who played carom. With him and my father, I learned to play billiards, but it wasn't snooker. I saw this discipline on television and told my father I wanted to try it. I couldn't even reach the table properly back then, but I was determined to do it. When I compete, I always think of my grandfather, and in fact, I have his billiard cue in my office," he explains. At fourteen, he started practicing at the Bowling de Pedralbes and went to a training school in Sheffield for a summer. "The key moment was when I met Daan Leyssen at Billar Monforte. He's from Belgium, where snooker is very popular, but he's been here for years. Together, we fight to win the Spanish championships. You could say we're rivals, but what we are is friends," he says. It is with him that he has moved forward with his project of having a snooker club in Barcelona. First, Leyssen helped Aleix improve. Then they moved on to competing to win medals, and now they want to leave a legacy with the club. "I've gone crazy for the last two years looking for places here in Barcelona to set up the club we wanted to set up. One of the major handicaps of this billiard discipline is the size of the table. This table is three times bigger than the ones you find in a bar," he says. And it's not just the table; you have to calculate the space to allow players to move around looking for the best angle," he says. In snooker, you have to sink the red balls into the pockets. But between one red ball and another, you also have to hit some balls of other colors. "In an era with so much screen time, being able to play here gives you life. It allows you to disconnect. Millions of people around the world enjoy it. And here, we are convinced that anyone who wants to come and try it will get hooked," he assures.