SPM Billiards Magazine Issue 34

Interview with Junior Player Eli “The Giant” Zahavi

By Linda Carter

Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Eli Zahavi (pronounced Ellie Zuhhah’-vee), an up-and-coming junior player, who resides in a small town outside Boston, MA., with his parents and siblings. Eli is a very mature and self-possessed 16-yearold who is making a name for himself on the junior circuit.

Eli got his start in pool in an unusual way. None of his family members play pool, but one day they all went out to play pool at The Billiards Cafe in Ayer, MA, just for fun. Eli was only 11 years old at the time but found he had an affinity for the sport. On the way out, an older man approached them, asking if he was interested in joining a Junior Pool league. With no prior experience, Eli thought he would try it. It was that fateful decision that led Eli to where he is now. The older man that approached him happened to be the renowned coach, Roy Pastor.

Roy is still his coach, and Eli plays in a Sunday junior league and a Wednesday Master 10 ball league. Being in both leagues gives Eli the opportunity to perfect his skills and practice with other players.

After about a year of playing in the league, Eli convinced his parents that he was committed to this new sport, so they bought him a pool table. Having a pool table at home has been very helpful, because Eli puts in about 12 hours a day, 6 days a week at St. Mark’s School, a private prep school in Massachusetts.

He then has mandatory sports practice and then hours of homework before being able to put in some time on his table. Being a student at a highly competitive Prep school means a grueling and exhausting schedule, but Eli manages to practice a half hour to an hour every day.

While it’s not much time compared to other juniors, he feels that consistency and focus are important while doing drills, and practicing is the key to his success. In the summer, the absence of school and sports practices allows him to practice more, around two to three hours a day. His focused practice during summers and the school year has brought him closer to his dream of becoming a pro.

Eli "The Giant" Zahavi

Photo by Mari Cartagenova at SVB Junior Open

In his family, education is of paramount importance, and while Eli has not decided what path he will follow, he’s sure it will involve Math and Science. Currently, he is considering Engineering or Medical School.

Speaking of his family, Eli’s mom is his unofficial manager and, more importantly, his number one fan. Eli is highly appreciative of her handling his travel and social media accounts. Alongside Roy, Eli’s Mom is someone who pushes him toward being the best player and person he can be.

Eli’s favorite player is definitely the Terminator, Niels Feijen. His online video’s at Terminator College have been very helpful to Eli’s growth. He also admires Efren Reyes, Jayson Shaw, and Earl Strickland. As far as other young players, he admires and respects Joey Tate because he’s kind and humble even after making it to the pro circuit. When asked about another upand-comer, Savannah Easton, he said she is a strong player, considering she beat him at the Matchroom Open Tournament in Atlantic City. Eli adds that he beat her in the 2021 CSI Junior 9 Ball where he took 5th in the 16 and Under division. He believes they both have a lot of potential for the future.

Eli "The Giant" Zahavi #70

Photo by Adam Richins -. Eli is #70 lineman

Like most good players who have innate hand-eye coordination, Eli plays other sports. He excels at football and baseball. Standing at 6’8” with a massive frame, Eli uses that size to his advantage as a lineman in Football and, with his giant reach playing first base in Baseball. I asked why he was not playing basketball, and he said he was slow, and his whole family was slow. I got a kick out of his candor. These sports make up another part of his busy schedule.

There have been other challenges to his pool career besides time constraints. Like most people, Covid isolated him, and he was not able to practice in person with anyone. This was certainly a frustrating and challenging chapter. Even now, he finds it hard to meet other junior players of a similar skill level because there are very few junior leagues and competitions in his area. However, Eli makes sure to break through this adversity by keeping up his practice, meeting with his coach, and trying to get better every day.

His best games are 9 and 10 ball. He believes he could improve on 8 ball, but most tournaments he plays in don’t include this game. This leaves him time to specialize in rotation games. He’s also dabbled in snooker and one pocket just for fun. He has run four consecutive racks of 9 ball and three racks of 8 ball. His Fargo is 450, but it is truly not indicative of his skill level because there are no Fargo rated leagues or tournaments close by.

He said his strongest shots are his break, where he routinely pockets 2-4 balls, his spin, his power, and jump shots. He would like to work more on his thin cuts and banks. He says he doesn’t use an aiming system, except for kicks, where he uses the mirror angle system for banking.

Eli is sponsored by Predator, and he plays with a Predator Revo 12.4 shaft with a Pechauer/ Predator collaboration butt. He also must play with a 6” extension on both his playing and break cues due to his height. He breaks with a BK Rush and jumps with a Predator Air 2. Eli loves the Predator equipment, and he feels it helps him perform at his best. This young man is a hard worker, humble, eschews gambling, and spends his limited free time as a volunteer for the Special Olympics. His advice for other aspiring pool players is to be patient with themselves, appreciate incremental progress, and never lose sight of your goal. Eli “The Giant” Zahavi has a bright future and is one to watch as he reaches for his next goal of competing in the BCA Junior Worlds.

If you would like to sponsor Eli or invite him to a tournament, he can be reached through Facebook - Eli Zahavi Billiards, or Instagram @elizahavipool.

Eli "The Giant" Zahavi

Photo by Kyle Theodoridis (photographer for Predator)