Sam Craigie (photo courtesy of Janie Watkins)
Congratulations to 16-year-old Sam Craigie who has tonight defeated Chinese youngster Li Hang to win the 2010 World Under-21 Championship…
Having come through a tense decider yesterday against his brother Stephen in the first semi-final, Sam found himself pushed all the way for a second successive day as Li Hang took frame 16 to level the final at 8-8.
Again though it was Sam who proved the stronger player when the pressure was on, compiling what was a tremendous break of 98 under the circumstances to clinch by far the biggest trophy of his career to date.
As well as the trophy, this victory also ensures that Sam will following in the footsteps of the older Craigie who was on the tour during 2008/9 and graduate to the professional circuit for next season. It would be unfair to expect too much of him but as the likes of Jack Lisowski and Anthony McGill have already shown this season, the added events under the new system will only help the likes of them to progress and gain experience against the top players in the game.