The Petite Piranha

Albuquerque's Own: Kostanian hopes to improve on her No. 10 ranking.

Kostanian concedes that she hasn't been exactly the social butterfly at WPBA tournaments, adopting something of the Earl Strickland approach of not getting too close to the competition. "I play my match, then go back to my room or hang out with my family and friends," she says. "I don't think it's a bad thing." Assessing her game, she says that guys always tell her she plays like a guy and "I'm pretty happy about that." Some, though, "think my game is just plain and boring," she adds, "but I don't care. I think I'm aggressive, but not too aggressive. I think I know when to play good safe. I think I do everything pretty well, except maybe for jump shots."

Jeanette Lee doesn't completely agree. Lee sees a flaw that could be fatal if Kostanian doesn't grow out of it at some point: a low frustration tolerance that clearly bubbles to the surface of Anna's demeanor during matches. "If things aren't going well for her," Lee says, "she'll pout and go all slumpy in her chair. Then she'll literally drag herself around the table when it's her shot. It's not good. And it's something I've talked to Anna about privately." Kostanian responds: "I try to hang in there when I'm down. And sometimes I do. I think I have a good mental game. But I know it's something I need to get better at."

Kostanian, whose days in Albuquerque consist mostly of just playing pool and racquetball and going to the gym, graduated high school, but eschewed college to pursue pool full-time. "My mom wants me to go to college," she says. "I used to draw a lot when I was young, sketching mostly landscapes and animals, and there was a time I thought about going into Web design or advertising. I still think about it sometimes. But for right now, I'm living at home and saving my money and want to give (pool) a try and eventually get in the Top 3 or something."

She knows she's come a long way from the days when she'd carry around to events the annual WPBA Classic Tour guide and get so nervous when she was scheduled to play one of the players in it.

"I don't feel so out of place now," she says. "I'm not a nobody anymore. More people are talking to me at tournaments. And I think the other players see me now as a good player, a tough one, one who's capable of beating them, maybe even thinking to themselves, 'She's coming to get us.'"

Indeed, swimming at full speed, mouth open, and baring those razor-sharp Piranha teeth.

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