Si Jiahui notched three wins out of three as he topped Group 13 and booked his place in the second stage of the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester.
China’s Si was a Crucible semi-finalist in 2023 then reached his first ranking final last season at the German Masters and is looking to continue his rapid progress.
He started his season with a 3-0 win over Peter Lines then saw off Zak Surety 3-0 with a top break of 82, before securing top spot with a 3-1 defeat of Jimmy Robertson.
Former World Champion Stuart Bingham also made it through the day unbeaten, scoring two wins and a draw to advance from Group 18. He let slip a 2-0 lead against Hamim Hussain, finishing 2-2, but then beat Aly Ahmed Elsayed 3-0 with a top break of 110 and Anthony Hamilton 3-1.
Yesterday evening I managed to watch a bit of the action… yeah! Si Jiahui was far from faultless in beating Jimmy Robertson who looked quite “rusty” to say the least. Then I saw the last frame and a half between Bingham and the Sheriff … they both appeared to be in great spirit, laughing and joking. You would have thought they were playing in an exhibition rather than in a ranking event. Ballrun had … some run of the balls.
As for the news about the end of the Eurosport App … I’m obviously not the only one feeling mightily annoyed and angry.
Although I’m slowly getting better, I’m still in no state to watch any snooker… or any moving images actually. This means that I saw nothing from yesterday action but here is WST report about day 9 at the 2024 Ranking CLS:
WILSON FALLS IN FIRST GROUP STAGE
In his first appearance since conquering the Crucible, Kyren Wilson failed to qualify for the second stage of the BetVictor Championship League, as Scott Donaldson topped the table in Group One.
Six weeks after his World Championship triumph, Wilson mustered a win and two draws from his three matches in Leicester, but that was not enough as Scotland’s Donaldson notched two wins and a draw to go through to the second group phase.
Opening with a 3-0 win over Baipat Siripaporn, Donaldson went on to beat Daniel Womersley 3-1, which left him needing to avoid defeat in his final match against Wilson. A break of 79 gave Wilson the opening frame, before Donaldson hit back with 88 and 101 to go 2-1 up and ensure top spot in the group. Wilson finished with a 111 for a 2-2 draw but misses out on the rest of the season’s first ranking event and now has a four-week gap before he’s back on the table at the Shanghai Masters.
Hossein Vafaei finished top of Group 14 , conceding just one frame in his three matches. A break of 89 helped him to a 3-0 win over Josh Mulholland, then he saw off Manasawin Phetmalaikul 3-1 and Louis Heathcote 3-0.
A draw in his first match of the new season cost Kyren, but, yeah, it was the first match of the season, and a very short format. Never easy. And, of course, Scott Donaldson is a quality player. So it’s no “big shock” and not a disaster either. Baipat on the other hand didn’t win a single frame. It’s worrying because I have the feeling that instead of progressing during her first year as a pro, she has only regressed. She’s probably lost all self-belief and with that all motivation. I hope I’m wrong in this assessment but…
Hossein winning the other group emphatically didn’t surprise me, although I expected more resistance from Louis Heathcote.
2024 Shanghai Masters Wildcard News: Selection process
There will be a rather big qualifying process to determine the wildcards for the 2024 Shanghai Masters.
Sinosport indeed shared this on Twitter (X) , and they surely did share that info on other platforms as well:
Now, I’m not sure I fully understand the whole process but the whole thing looks like a stern test for the aspiring wildcards.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has today announced updated anti-doping procedures to apply to its amateur and development organisations across the WPBSA Group from the start of the 2024/25 season. This does not relate to the professional World Snooker Tour which has existing procedures organised by the WPBSA.
As part of our commitment for our sport to be IOC compliant, from the start of this season random drug tests will take place at events organised across the WPBSA Group throughout the season. The relevant organisations/events may include:
All players will note the relevant addition to the Standard Conditions of Entry for each of these organisations:
Drug Testing: Players shall at all times comply with the WPBSA Anti-Doping Rules and must make themselves available for and must submit to Doping Control (urine and/or blood) at any time as per section 5.2.1 of these Rules.
Should you have any further questions please contact us.
The red highlight is my doing. The reason I highlighted it is because it shows a clear commitment by WPBSA to get snooker into the Olympic games. Although I’m not sure snooker is particularly “suited” for this type of competition, if it became an olympic sport it could bring great benefits for the amateurs in many countries.
As an example, in Belgium, in past years, athletes preparing for the Olympic games got special support in the form of funding, access to training facilities and part-time work in order to allow them the best possible preparation. Inclusion in the Olympic games would also lead to the recognition of snooker as an actual sport, which would also open them access to to various funding possibilities.
The end of the Eurosport App … and what it means for many snooker fans
Today I got this in my email…
Cher Client,
Nous avons le regret de vous informer que le service d’abonnement Eurosport Premium sera supprimé le 22 juillet. Après l’arrêt du service, vous recevrez un remboursement pour la période restante non utilisée de votre abonnement. Les remboursements seront effectués selon le mode de paiement que vous avez utilisé pour acheter votre abonnement.
Vous pouvez continuer à profiter de nos articles d’actualité et de notre contenu gratuits sur le site Internet et l’application Eurosport.
Pour plus d’informations sur les endroits où vous pouvez continuer à regarder vos sports préférés, ou si vous avez besoin d’aide, consultez notre Centre d’aide.
Cordialement, L’équipe Eurosport
Which translates like this
Dear Customer,
We regret to inform you that the Eurosport Premium subscription service will be discontinued on July 22. Après l’arrêt du service, you will receive a refund for the remaining unused period of your subscription. Refunds will be made according to the mode of payment that you used to purchase your subscription.
You can continue to benefit from our current articles and our free content on the Internet site and the Eurosport application.
For more information on where you can continue watching your favorite sports, or if you need help, consult our Help Center.
Cordially, The Eurosport team
This is a disaster for me, and I’m sure for many other snooker fans around Europe. Living in Greece, the Eurosport App is the only way I can watch Eurosport. It isn’t part of ANY available package for terrestrial television in this country. BTW, BBC and ITV aren’t available either. So I will have to rely solely on matchroom.live with no possibility to watch a match “later” if I can’t watch it at broadcast time for any reason … including time difference. I wonder if WST/WPBSA are aware of this, and wether they will care. Really they should.
Alexander Ursenbacher was the only player to win a match in Group 26 of the BetVictor Championship League as he topped the table to reach the second round.
The Swiss ace drew his first two matches 2-2 against Graeme Dott and Matthew Selt, notably making a break of 121 in his opening tie. Ursenbacher then scored a handy 3-0 win over Florian Nuessle which put him top of the table.
Dott and Selt had also scored 2-2 draws in their first two games, and they met in the last match of the evening, both needing a 3-0 win and a break higher than 121. Dott took the opener then missed the final yellow on 106 in frame two, and that proved costly as Selt won the third then made a 119 in the fourth to secure yet another 2-2 draw.
David Lilley dominated Group 27, scoring three wins out of three to book his place in the next phase. A break of 85 helped him to a 3-0 win over Liam Graham, and Lilley went on to beat Paul Deaville 3-0 and Yuan Sijun 3-1.
As you may have guessed, being unwell, I saw very little of the action yesterday. I still watched a bit in the evening and, from what I saw even Florian Nuessle didn’t play that badly. This was a very, very hard group. Dotty is never easy to beat and never knows when he is beaten. Selt is more or less in the same mould. Alex is a bit inconsistent, but on a good day, and with the right mindset and motivation he can beat even the very best. Yesterday was such a day apparently. I’m also always happy to see players from mainland Europe doing well.
I saw nothing of the other group, but David Lilley is a bit of a mystery to me. On his day he can beat the best, on other days he looks very ordinary. Yesterday must have been one of “his” days. I expected better from Yuan Sijun but then, maybe, he’s just back from China after the summer break?
OHNSTONE’S PAINT TO SPONSOR THE MASTERS, PART OF SNOOKER’S TRIPLE CROWN
Snooker’s greatest and most historic invitation event, The Masters, will be sponsored by Johnstone’s Paint for the next three years.
World Snooker Tour is delighted to expand its far-reaching partnership with Johnstone’s Paint to include title sponsorship of The Masters, part of the sport’s Triple Crown Series alongside the World Championship and the UK Championship.
The 2025 Johnstone’s Paint Masters will run from January 12-19 at the fabulous Alexandra Palace in London. The world’s top 16 players will compete for prize money of over £1 million and the famous trophy at a tournament first staged in 1975. Ronnie O’Sullivan lifted the trophy for a record-extending eighth time in 2024, beating Ali Carter 10-7 in a thrilling final.
Earlier this year, WST announced a new partnership with Johnstone’s Paint, a brand of PPG Architectural Coatings, UK & Ireland. PPG’s portfolio boasts a distinguished array of brands within the coatings industry including the prestigious Johnstone’s and Leyland Brands. From a global perspective PPG was originally founded and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and currently operates in over 70 countries worldwide.
Johnstone’s Paint was lead partner of both the Players Championship and Tour Championship, providing a range of themed activations and initiatives for snooker fans. This relationship which will continue to develop at the sport’s flagship invitation event over the next three years.
Moreover, Johnstone’s Paint will use their new affiliation with snooker to help inspire their community projects. In education, they work with STEM learning and will challenge school children to design a player waistcoat which could be worn during tournaments.
And snooker projects will be considered for the Colourful Communities programme, where PPG volunteers bring colour and vitality to communities where the company operates around the world. Since the program’s launch in 2015, 500 projects have been completed in nearly 50 countries, involving nearly 25,000 PPG volunteer employees and reaching more than 8.2 million people. PPG’s investment in the project since its inception has totalled $10 million, with a planned additional $5 million by 2030 to further develop the initiative.
New World Champion Kyren Wilson said: “The Masters has grown so much in recent years, many players consider it the best atmosphere on the tour and it is a title that everyone wants to win. Having landed the world title, the Masters is now at the top of my list! It’s fantastic to bring Johnstone’s Paint on board as title sponsor, I’m sure they have great ideas to work together with our sport and help us engage with fans.”
WST’s Chief Commercial Officer Peter Wright said: “We are delighted to build on this exciting partnership and to continue to create a colourful future by working with Johnstone’s Paint.
“In recent years, the Johnstone’s Paint Masters has made huge leaps forward to the extent that every session is packed with an audience of over 2,000, and the experience of coming to Alexandra Palace has become a bucket list item for fans who love live sport.
“Snooker is enjoying incredible progress in terms of our television audience, live attendance and digital growth and we are pleased to welcome Johnstone’s Paint as part of this journey. We will be working closely with them on a range of initiatives including their outstanding community projects.”
PPG’s Marketing Director, UK & Ireland Megan Esmond said: “We are extremely excited about the partnership; it’s not only about driving brand awareness but the broader opportunities it provides too. Including driving engagement with our employees and customers as well as opening up doors to make a difference in the snooker community, through our Colourful Community projects.”
I’m always happy to see a sponsor that is not a bookie … so this is good news to me!
I have seen very little of the action over the last two days … some quite uncomfortable health issues coming in the way of snooker and life in general 😞 but nothing that time and patience can’t heal.
Anyway, it is what it is and I’m getting better so here is what happened yesterday and the day before in Leicester.
China’s Bai Yulu reflects on her World Championship qualifying match, and looks ahead to her first season on the World Snooker Tour…
Bai, you lost 10-7 to Jenson Kendrick in the World Championship qualifiers in April, how do you feel about your performance in that match? I completely failed to adapt to the conditions, and even the equipment, during the first session so I played badly. I was not able to adjust throughout. In the second session I played with more freedom and treated it as if had I lost already, and I got more used to the conditions. I managed to feel the speed of the table better and control the white more easily. But having got back from 9-4 to 9-7, I got a bit nervous towards the end, when I felt that victory was in my reach. I’d like to think I have a carefree type of personality, and that allows me to not overthink during competitions. But I have certain flaws in power shots and I have to work hard to make up for it.
What’s your ambition for the next two seasons? I’m not setting a goal but I do think I can make a lot of progress over the two years. I don’t really think about results.
Who is your favourite player? Stephen Hendry. I used to watch him play when I first started and everybody said he’s awesome, with all the titles he won. I’ve also played against Ding Junhui and I’ve asked him for advice on shot selection.
You have been playing in CBSA Junior events, including a recent one in Yan’An. The best players from the series are awarded wild cards to WST events. How much does this help young talent to improve? It’s a great platform for our best junior players to sharpen their games before reaching the professional circuit. There are several events each year and you will see all the best young players competing in one arena. For the players it doesn’t really matter what kind of result you get, but to keep learning in tournaments like this means a lot. It’s never been held at a gymnasium before so I had a great experience in Yan’An.
Who are the best up-and-coming juniors in China? Zhou Jinhao, Lan Yuhao and Dong Zihao. We grew up practising together and you can tell they are making rapid progress.
Bai comes across as a very mature and determined young woman. It’s a bit surprising that her favourite player is Stephen Hendry considering that he retired in 2012 and she was still a young child then. But I suppose that the “snooker kids” in China get to watch and study videos of the best players, past and present.
Martin O’Donnell won the last three frames of the day to edge out Ricky Walden and finish top of Group 24 of the BetVictor Championship League.
O’Donnell’s fine finish puts him into the second group stage of the opening ranking event of the season, as he looks to build on a fine 2023/24 campaign which was highlighted by a run to the final of the BetVictor Welsh Open.
After a 2-2 draw against Rory Thor and a 3-1 win over Umut Dikme, O’Donnell came into the crucial last match of Tuesday’s play in second place behind group leader Walden, who had two wins under his belt. And when Walden took the opening frame, O’Donnell knew he needed the last three.
He cleared from green to black in frame two to keep his hopes alive, then made a superb 94 to lead 2-1. O’Donnell then dominated the last frame with a top run of 48 to clinch top spot.
In Group 28, China’s Wu Yize scored a trio of 3-1 victories to book his place in the next phase. The talented 20-year-old started by beating Joshua Cooper with breaks of 76, 76 and 83. Wu went on to beat Allan Taylor with top runs of 64 and 86, and in his final match against Ross Muir he made a 142 total clearance, the highest break of the tournament so far.
Robbie McGuigan made a flying start to his rookie season as he topped Group Seven at BetVictor Championship League to qualify for the second stage of the season’s opening ranking event.
Northern Ireland’s promising 19-year-old McGuigan earned a place on the tour by winning the European Championship and hopes to make an impact among the pro ranks.
Top seed Tom Ford withdrew from the group, leaving only three players in contention. McGuigan started with a 3-0 win over Sanderson Lam, and though he lost his second match 3-1 to Barry Pinches, he did enough to top the group on frame difference.
Crucible finalist Jak Jones was competing as a top 16 player for the first time and lived up to his billing as he finished top of Group Eight. After coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Antoni Kowalski, Jones scored a 3-1 win over Bulcsu Revesz with a top break of 88.
Jordan Brown had identical results, setting up a showdown to decide the group. Brown came from 2-0 down to tie 2-2 and in the last frame he had the chance to snatch top place if he could eclipse Jones’ top break of 88. But the former Welsh Open champion missed the penultimate red on 87 to lose out by the narrowest of margins. Jones continues the sequence of a Welshman topping a group on all seven days of the event so far.
Tom Ford actually played his first match, but was feeling really unwell and had to withdraw for medical reasons.
Robbie had impressed me winning the EBSA event. He showed a lot of determination out there and played a very mature type of snooker, whilst. at the same time, staying positive and attacking.
WST also shared a video where Mark Allen interviews Robbie. Despite being separated from Robbie’s mother, Mark has a good relationship with Robbie and supports him as much as he can
There was no play yesterday in Leicester so, nothing to report on regarding the 2024 Ranking CLS.
WST took the opportunity to share an interview they did with Zhang Anda. This comes after the one they did with Julien Leclerq and I”m glad to finally see more focus put on non British/Irish players
ZHANG ANDA Q&A
The 2023/24 season was by far the rest of Zhang Anda’s career as he won his first ranking title at the International Championship, broke into the top 16 for the first time and was named Breakthrough Player of the Year. The Chinese ace looks back on his landmark success and describes the importance of a postive mentality.
Zhang, what have you been doing since the end of last season? I have kept a busy schedule, doing a lot of exhibitions and invitational activities. I had two weeks with my family, but since then I have been away from home. I visited Chengdu, Kunshan, Wuhan, Lhasa, Chongqing and Urumqi. It feels good to be busy and it’s heart-warming to see a lot of fans supporting me. I felt like saying ‘yes’ to all requests and tried to be professional. I’m a lot busier compared to this time last year. But soon I’m going home for a month and I’ll be practising to be ready for the Shanghai Masters.
You must be excited to have a place in the Shanghai event? Yes – I haven’t played there since it became an invitational tournament. It’s an elite event, all the players in the field are tough and every match is full of anticipation. It’s great to be in events like this, it’s a precious opportunity.
Do you have any goals for the new season? I’d like to stay in the top 16. I can’t imagine it being as good as my previous season, but I’ll definitely try to do better in each tournament. Nobody knows if there’s another trophy in line but I’ll focus on my game and try to make progress.
How can you explain your success last season? It’s all about mindset. I felt peaceful in my mind during the events where I did well. I managed to stay calm and didn’t worry about the outcome of each match. In other words, I was able to immerse myself in those scenarios. At the International Championship and the Players Championship (where he was runner-up to Mark Allen) I had no distracting thoughts, I only thought about what’s on the table. I was playing my natural game. I don’t want to be under pressure in the new season so perhaps ‘no target’ is the best strategy. But I’ll have a positive mindset at every tournament.
After such a good season, it must have been disappointing to lose to Jak Jones in the first round of the World Championship. I was out of sorts at the Crucible. I felt a lot of pressure, and let the wrong thoughts creep in. There was extra expectation because I was a top 16 player for the first time, I was supposed to play to a certain standard. That’s when the useless thoughts kicked in. When your game goes from bad to worse you feel impatient, even irritable. You forget to think about what’s on the table and those thoughts became distractions. Everyone was watching, it was the end of a brilliant season, I was a seeded player – these were all distractions. I was over-cautious and afraid of missing shots. I think that’s exactly why I didn’t do well in the first ten years of my career. Nobody can help you out there with the negative thoughts. Then suddenly there’s this one week where you are able to cope with everything in a perfectly peaceful mindset. Maybe it’s more difficult when you are young.
So with more experience you are able to control your emotions more? I’ve learned my lesson. Some of the things you want the most, those are the most difficult things to get. But you can’t stop wanting these things, nor can you just let it slide. You can’t stop trying to win. But it’s better to just concentrate on the shots, on what’s on the table, not the result. And enjoy the process of treating every moment the correct way. You will get good results if you can do it that way.
John Higgins is your favourite player – did you watch his 13-12 victory over Mark Allen at the Crucible? There’s no way to stop me watching that deciding frame live! I got very excited. It was an awesome moment and that’s why he’s my favourite player. Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan keep winning tournaments and I genuinely hope that John can do the same. He actually had a good season with a lot of semi-final and quarter-final finishes, but it would be great if he can win titles again. He was in Chengdu last month and we did exhibitions together, I was very happy to be involved with his birthday celebrations. He seemed to know that I idolized him and learned the game by watching videos of his matches.
I will alway remember the moment Zhang Anda really caught my attention. It was at the 2010 World Qualifiers. I had been invited to the last round of qualifiers by Lee Gorton. Lee was Ricky Walden’s manager back then and had been involved in organising pro-ams in Belgium. I went to take pictures to promote those events and that’s how we had met. Ricky had to qualify for the Crucible. He only had to win one match and was facing a tiny 18 years old kid from China, in his first year as a pro: Zhang Anda. On paper that looked comfortable enough … but Zhang beat Ricky to book his place at the Crucible.
Zhang had to start in the first round of qualifiers that year. he was a rookie. He beat Craig Steadman by 10-4 in the last 96, John Parrott by 10-6 in the last 80, Andrew Higginson in the last 64 and, finally, Ricky by 10-8 in the last 48. There was never more than two frames between them in that match but Ricky was ahead only once at 5-6.
Zhang was due to face Stephen Hendry at the Crucible. I remember what went on on social media – mainly forums – at the time. Hendry was going to wipe the floor with the kid … that was the general opinion. I dared to disagree and got crucified for it. Hendry DID eventually win that match indeed but it went to the deciding frame. Hendry had the best start, the went 4-0 ahead. But Zhang settled and went on to lead by 9-7. Eventually however experience and determination got Hendry over the line. Later, in the media room, Hendry could hardly believe what had happened. He did not expect a difficult match, never-mind having to win the last three frames to avoid a first round defeat to a teenager rookie from China.
Jamie Jones came through a hard-fought Group 30 at the BetVictor Championship League to book his place in the second stage.
Jones kept up the sequence of a Welshman topping a group each day, following victories earlier in the week for Ryan Day, Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens, Michael White and Jackson Page.
He opened with a 3-0 win over Chris Totten, top scoring with 124, then crucially came from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw with Ishpreet Singh Chadha. The group was in the balance ahead of his final match with Liu Hongyu, but by coming from 1-0 down to draw 2-2 with breaks of 99 and 68, Jones finished just ahead of Singh Chadha on frame difference.
Leicester’s Ben Woollaston took the spoils in Group 29. He trailed Stan Moody 2-0 in his opening match but hit back for a 2-2 draw, and that proved the turning point for Woollaston as he went on to beat Dylan Emery 3-0 and Dominic Dale 3-1.
I’m happy to see Ben Woollaston slowly regaining form after years of struggles with health issues. Stan Moody came second in that group, undefeated. At 17 he’s showing a lot of maturity. Dylan Emery, on the other hand, was nowhere near the level needed at professional level.
In the other group very little separated Jamie Jones from Ishpreet Singh Chadha, or even from Chris Totten who came third. None of those three won more than one match, not because of lack of quality but because nearly every frame was hard fought. Liu Hongyu was disappointing but, of course, it’s only the start of the season and, maybe, he was only just back from China.
There is no play today. Happy Fathers Day to all fathers out there!
Yesterday was a rather disappointing day for me as a Belgian. Indeed Julien Leclercq was in action and, after a decent start in the first session of the day, he really struggled in the second session and finished last of his group. I was even more disappointing because Julien had been interviewed by WST ahead of his return to action and appeared to be in an excellent frame of mind.
JULIEN LECLERCQ Q&A
On the cusp of his third season as a pro, Belgium’s 21-year-old Julien Leclercq reflects on what he has learned from his first two years on the tour, and looks ahead to the coming campaign.
Julien, how much are you looking forward to the new season? I’m very excited, I haven’t played a match since the World Championship qualifiers in April so I want to get started again. I only had a few days rest and then I was practising again.
How do you reflect on your results and performances last season? I got nervous towards the end because my tour card wasn’t safe. Going into the world qualifiers I had to win my first match against Haydon Pinhey otherwise I would have been going to Q School. I didn’t play well but I won 10-3 so that took a lot of pressure off. Next time I don’t want to be in that position again. My goal for the first part of the new season is to get well up into the top 64 so I am not risking dropping off the tour at the end of the season.
Still, to keep your tour card after your first two seasons is a good achievement. What have you learned? Yes I am happy just to keep my card. I have learned so much. Mainly about life on tour in terms of travelling to events. It is not easy, living in Belgium and going to the UK or other countries for every tournament. Things like arranging travel by train and booking the right hotels close to the venues, that takes time to learn everything, and I do it all myself, or sometimes my girlfriend Chloe helps me. I know a lot more about that now, so next season I won’t need four hours of searching online just to find the right hotel! That will take away some stress. In terms of my game, I have had to get better at safety. When I turned pro, my safety wasn’t great. But on the tour, if you can’t play safety you will be killed. The other thing I have tried to learn is to accept defeat. It’s hard when you lose. But there is no point getting angry or frustrated. Staying positive on the mental side is so important.
What was your best moment last season? Winning that first qualifying match in the world qualifiers because after that I knew I would probably stay on tour. My uncle Joel came to watch – he has been to a few tournaments, he absolutely loves snooker and it is great to have him in the crowd.
…and the worst? In the qualifying round for the International Championship, I was 5-5 with Si Jiahui and in the last frame I was 56-0 ahead but he cleared up with 68. That was painful because I want to qualify for more events in China. I played there three times as an amateur but I am yet to play in a pro tournament there.
Ben Mertens joined the tour at the same time as you, how much has that helped both of you over the first two years? He is my best friend and we have been playing snooker together since we were nine years old. He only lives 20 minutes away so we practise together a lot. There has never been any jealousy, we are always happy for each other’s success. We are going through some of the same experiences on tour so it really helps to have someone to speak to. And when we have time off we play video games like Call of Duty, but I always win, he’s a very bad gamer!
Have you thought about moving to the UK? When I first turned pro I considered it, but then I decided to stay in Belgium. I have Chloe there – she is studying psychology at university – as well as my friends and family, it’s more important to me to be close to them. People might think I would learn more by practising with other players in the UK, but I learn most by playing matches. And I often watch my matches again on video and try to work on the mistakes I made.
During your first season you reached the final of the Shoot Out, did that give you a taste for the big occasion? Yes – every player on tour wants to be in the big finals. Also I want to do well to help inspire more young players from Belgium.
What’s the best venue you have played at? The Tempodrom in Berlin. You are so close to the crowd, it’s an amazing atmosphere.
Finally, what’s the best thing about being a snooker player? The chance to travel the world and share some of those experiences with my family. And to play snooker on live TV – that’s what I always dreamed about. I can’t complain about anything.
In the tightest group yet at this week’s BetVictor Championship League, Jackson Page scored a superb late win over Robert Milkins to book his place in the second stage.
The first four matches in Group 10 were all drawn 2-2, leaving it in the balance heading into the concluding ties. Andrew Higginson scored a 3-1 win over Iulian Boiko and he looked favourite, particularly with a high break of 121 earlier in the day. But Page then came from 1-0 down to beat Milkins 3-1, and his break of 127 in the second frame edged him ahead of Higginson and secured his progress.
Success for the 22-year-old means that a Welsh player has topped a group every day this week, as Page follows Ryan Day, Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens and Michael White into the next phase.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh topped Group 32 in another close finish, edging out Daniel Wells. Thailand’s Un-Nooh opened with a 3-1 win over Mark Joyce, then made breaks of 106 and 104 in a 3-0 defeat of Julien Leclercq.
Wells drew 2-2 with Leclercq and beat Joyce 3-1, so could have won the group with victory in his final match against Un-Nooh, and he started well with a break of 91 to take the opening frame. But Un-Nooh hit back to take the next two, and eventually progressed with a 2-2 draw.
Group 10 really delivered. There was no dead match and the group winner was literally decided by the second and last frames of last match on the day. Jackson needed to win, from 1-0 down, AND to make ea break of 122 or more. He managed both! Andrew Higginson must have felt sick.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 