John Higgins hails Michael Leslie for fine performance in 2012 European U-21 Snooker Championship
Scotland’s Michael Leslie showed promising attitude in the European Unde-21 Snooker Championship and was able to win the event after a marvellous snooker show against the Englishman, Shane Castle. He defeated the youngster by an easy score line of 6-2 to
lift the title as well as grab an opportunity to play in the professional circuit for the next two seasons.
The 19-year-old Leslie is now aiming to give his best shot in the professional tour where he might meet John Higgins one day. He has to keep his performance up to the mark to hit the top ranks. Thanks to the World Professional Billiard and Snooker Association
(PBSA), this time he will have a two-year time to improve his game.
On the other hand, the legendary potter from Scotland has hailed Leslie for his impressive performance in the said European tournament where he came up from a slow start to claim the title. Leslie played convincingly from the start of the championship to
reach the finals stages of the event and after that into the final encounter.
Speaking to the local media, Higgins said, “Michael’s a lovely boy and works so hard at his game, so I’m absolutely delighted for him. He’s been knocking on the door for a while, but in the last year he really has improved beyond all recognition. I had played
him a few times in previous years and he maybe wasn’t ready to turn professional, but I played him about six months ago and the change was dramatic.”
The Wizard of Wishaw added, “I’m delighted for Michael. I watched the final online and thought he was fantastic. It’s a massive win for him because if you’re serious about making it, you need to be winning these type of tournaments.”
The reigning World Snooker Champion, Higgins will soon be defending his title playing against the top dogs of world snooker in the 2012 World Snooker Championship. Meanwhile, his own performance has been a question mark for him because he is not catching
his momentum at all.
He tumbled down in a couple of major ranking snooker tournaments and even was not able to win any of them which have pushed him a bit down as compared to other top potters. However, he will be looking to retain his title this year.
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