Wales’ Andrew Pagett happy with longer format of 2012 World Snooker Championship
Qualifying session of the upcoming 2012 World Snooker Championship is underway at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield where potters from around the world are showing their performance to make their way into the televised stages of the mega event. One
of these international potters is Wales’ Andrew Pagett who is determined to surge into the initial stages of the tournament.
The Welshman is aiming to hit the opening stages of the tournament and improve his rankings. He is currently on World Number 79 and is determined to hit the top 64 after he finishes the qualifying session. However, he is not comfortable with the shorter
formats of the play and believes that longer formats are best for him because he is kind of a slow potter.
The formats of many snooker tournaments were changed by the newly appointed World Snooker Chairman, Barry Hearn. The chief wanted to bring more viewers to the sport and popularise the game across the globe. However, many players did not like Hearn’s actions
and criticised him. Even at the 2011 UK Championship, he had a verbal brawl with the Northern Irishman Mark Allen. Pagett also believes that shorter formats lose the richness of the game.
Speaking to the media, Pagett said, “I’m not the best of starters and these longer matches are better for me. For players who have to qualify for tournaments like me, there is only one competition where you get to play long matches and that is the World
Championships.”
He added, “Without a shadow of a doubt, it has caused me to go down the rankings this season. If you go 2-0 or 3-1 down in a best-of-seven, who are too far behind to comeback, especially against the better players. It’s down to me turning up on the day.
I am really confident I can do it and I’ve prepared well with Mark (Williams) for these longer matches.”
He is currently placed in the second round of the 2012 World Snooker Championship qualifiers where he will be playing against Aditya Mehta of India. He has China’s Xiao Guodong, England’s Robert Milkins and Mark Davis in his line-up.
Tags: