One of the highest ranked amateur players on the inaugural PTC Order of Merit this season, 20-year-old Michael Wasley has enjoyed a positive start to 2010/11 and has now been kind enough to blog for this site as he looks to gain a place on the professional circuit for next season…
START OF THE ACADEMY
Hi, my name is Michael Wasley and this is my first blog for ‘ProSnookerBlog’.
Since December 2009 (when building began at the South West Snooker Academy) I had nothing but excitement and couldnt wait for the building to be complete. To help speed up the process I decided to put my hard hat on and get to work. I chose the roll of ‘taking out the trash’ so to speak. There was so much rubble and dirt that I continually cleaned up so builders, painters etc could carry on with their work. It was quite enjoying to get some experience outside of snooker as to just hitting balls around and to get my hands dirty into something which I knew would be truly incredible. Which it is.
Before long the academy was quickly and sufficiently built thanks to John Redfern (building project manager). To see it grow from just, what you would call it, waste land, was just amazing and to know that this is my home ground gives me a great feeling inside.
IN THE BEGINNING AT THE ACADEMY
At the beginning when I first came for my proper practice I was just overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. It looked totally different when it was just steel framework and it blew me away. It gave me a great buzz to know I can practice here everyday and to give me the opportunity to become the player I aspire to be.
However this would not be possible if it wasnt for somebody (apart from my dad) who is a true inspiration to me, and that is Paul Mount. Paul Mount took me under his wing when I was 16 and I wouldnt be playing snooker if it had not have been for him.
As far as practice is concerned at the academy it was just a completely new sensation, it was an addiction to do well and practice hard. It was like a novelty to begin with, except in this situation the novelty never wears off. It just so happened that the academy was built in time so I could prepare myself for the all new and exciting PTC and EPTC events. I continued to practice hard in time for these new competitions and was really looking forward to them.
I got off to a start I was more than happy with, despite taking a second round defeat to Mark Selby, I managed to take out Ryan Day in the first round. This helped give me confidence for the future events in which I continued to beat some great players. My best result in these PTC and EPTC events was reaching the last 32. I managed to reach this stage on 4 occasions.
I also reached the semi finals of the EASB’s Pro Ticket Tour event 1.
So I am pleased with how my season has gone with so far but I would be lying if I said I was more than satisfied.
Being situated at the academy has enabled me to practice really hard and improve more and more everyday so there is always that inner strength to push myself more and more. So although I am pleased… I still want to do far better.
As with all sports you go through the highs and lows and I experienced my first low this year as the PTC and EPTC events came to and end so it meant I had no more competitions to enter until after the New Year especially as the Pro Ticket Tour event 2 was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. However this lull won’t last for long. I realised that because I am an amateur I cannot enter all tournaments that the professionals can enter so this has inspired me to work even harder again to qualify for the main tour this season.
Now I am really looking forward to the QSP series at the Academy. This, like the PTCs, gives me the chance to push my game on, playing in the professional conditions, against quality opposition.
My target is to qualify for the Q School. I still have more EASB Pro-Ticket events too, so after a semi final, I’m well placed to push to the top of the rankings by the end of the season.
I am now working on certain parts of my game to sharpen me up ready for the season ahead, to ensure I give myself the best chance at succeeding this year at becoming one of the top 96 professionals in the world.
OFF THE SNOOKER TABLE
Away from the snooker table I am also learning some skills in management at the academy. We will be organising competitions and junior cue school scholarships and I help in several aspects of the day to day running of the Academy.
Snooker is my first interest but secondly I am interested in business (hence why Paul is such a big inspiration to me) so the academy is giving me more than just the chance to improve on the table and give me a shot at my dream, it has also given me the opportunity to learn new skills which I may need later on in life.
Thank you for reading my first blog, hope you enjoyed it!