I was banned from my local snooker hall after a FIGHT – I switched to pool and now I’m world No 3

ONE of the world’s top pool players may not have even been in the sport had it not been for a fight he had as a teenager.

Jayson Shaw is Britain’s top player and one of the most decorated nine-ball pool players produced on these shores.

He is currently ranked world No 3 and will be part of the European team that faces Asia in the Reyes Cup this week – in a format similar to golf’s Ryder Cup.

But as a teenager, Shaw had been more focused on snooker and believed he would become a pro.

He was working and playing daily at the Craigpark Masters, the famous Glasgow snooker hall that regularly saw the likes of John Higgins, Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott pass through its doors.

But a scrap with another member of the club, who happened to be related to the owner, ended his ability to play and practice there.

Shaw, who is a massive Celtic fan, tells SunSport: “Back in the day I worked at Craigpark Masters, cleaning the tables, filling the fridges, and I got to play.

“I got into a little bit of a fight outside the club one day and they ended kicking me out of the club.

“I just ended up sticking with pool.

“I really feel if that had never happened I would have become a pro because I was really into it, hitting 100 breaks every day, and I was only playing for like, two or three months.”

The decision to switch to pool has hardly been a bad one, with Eagle Eye going on to win numerous titles including the US Open Pool Championship and multiple Mosconi Cups.

“Stuff happens for a reason,” he adds, “I enjoy nine-ball pool, I get to meet a lot of different people, travel the world, and obviously play in big competitions.

“I can’t be too mad, I feel blessed.”

Last week, Shaw was defending his Hanoi Open but fell at the quarter-final having been leading Ko Pin Yi 9-6 in the first to 10 race.

Snooker vs Pool

SNOOKER has long been considered the big brother of cue sports – in Britain at least.

But pool is a rapidly-growing sport around the rest of the world and certainly holds more popularity than snooker in the US and certain parts of the Far East, though China is considered snooker’s second home.

Matchroom, who promote both snooker and pool, have helped the prize money grow for the pool World Champion to grow from $50k to $250k in just a couple of years and Shaw thinks more sponsorship and TV airtime is the key to it growing further.

“The more it gets on TV and gets pushed out there the more it will grow, says Shaw. “Matchroom do a great job promoting it, it’s kind of a little bit easier to try and attract sponsors when you have such a good team with TV and media and all that stuff behind you.

“Matchroom are a big company but you can’t just keep pumping money in, you need to find other sponsors to grow… we’re definitely on the right track.”

Pool has also seen snooker players cross over into the sport, sometimes to great success.

Steve Davis (above, second left) has won the Mosconi Cup, while Mark Selby and Tony Drago have individual titles in the sport.

There has not been much success going the other way and Shaw – who beat Judd Trump in the US Open Pool Championship in 2021 – says the safety game and level of concentration needed are the deciding factors.

Shaw says: “I got invited to the 900 series last year, obviously it’s one frame with a shot clock.

“There were a few players that were off the[snooker] tour, had been retired a little bit.

“You can compete over one or two frames, but I think over a long distance it’s not possible.

“Just because of how much time they put into the game, how good their technique has to be. In pool you have to be fast and loose.

“You don’t have that compact style where you’re standing real tight to the cue ball.

“I think going from snooker to pool, yeah, can happen, because it’s a little bit easier.

“For them it’s all about the angles, breaking, jumping, you know, all that type of stuff.

“For us with snooker, you need a good safety game against someone like that. They’re just going to not get 100 breaks every game.”

Shaw dropped a couple of racks before being unable to get out of his seat in the final two racks as Ko stormed back to win the match.

“I played a good tournament,” he says, “You know, I thought I was going to go all the way again.

“I felt comfortable and confident on the table, my game was in good shape.

“Obviously disappointed to lose but I got positives from it.”

MATCHROOM SPORT

Shaw has the immediate chance to earn revenge on Ko Pin Yi in the Reyes Cup, as part of the European team facing Asia.

The Mosconi Cup, when Europe face the US, is one of the showpiece events of the pool calendar and the Reyes Cup should provide similar drama.

Shaw, who has won the Mosconi six times and twice been named MVP, believes his team has the edge given their experience in this kind of format – but realises winning will be a mammoth task.

He says: “We know we know that what to expect out there. We know what the pressure is going to be like.

“So I think for them, it could be a little bit more nervy, playing in front of the home fans, maybe not knowing what to expect, how the crowd is going to react, or how they’re going to match up.

“But they’ve got five champions, five amazing players, and I think with the crowd out there, they might calm them down a little bit, or they might feel the heat a little bit more.

“We are probably a little bit more comfortable, but we’ll still feel the heat.

“There’s no doubt about that.”

The team format also adds an interesting element that some of the Asian players may not be used to.

“When you’re playing singles and you get beat, it’s on you, right? You don’t want to let the team down,” says Shaw.

“You’re playing doubles, you don’t want to let your partner down. So there’s a lot more to it.

“Your brain is definitely thinking a lot more about more stuff.”

He adds: “When you play singles it’s all about you.

“If you do get beat, you can kind of turn around say, ‘well, I did that wrong’.

“When you’re playing in a team, even if you get beat, you’ve still got to be around and have that happy face on.

“If they see one of their players is not 100 per or he’s down on himself, that can bring the team down.

“There’s matches that just don’t go your way, but you just got to swallow it and get back in the dressing room and get behind the guys and try and win.”

• The Reyes Cup takes place from Tuesday, October 15 to Friday, October 18 in Manila, Philippines.
• It is available to stream live on Matchroom’s YouTube channel or on UK TV on Sky Sports Mix.
• SunSport will blog the whole tournament.