Ben Woollaston

A new inspiration in my life

"Having Edward has given me a new impetus and I think he will have a good impact on my snooker. Now I want to do even better."

Proud dad Ben Woollaston on the arrival of his and wife Tatiana's new-born son.

As long as your action is on cue, youll be okay

"Your cue action is a vital part of your armoury, the same way a swing is to a golfer."

Ben Woollaston explains that TV commentators mentions of a player's cue action, how smooth and fluent it is, or how unorthodox it is, are not uninteresting throwaway comments.

read more | 1 comments

If you enjoy it, remember to share it with other sports fans

Success Of Others Serves As An Inspiration

"Seeing the so-called “lesser names” winning is good for the game and is definitely inspiring"

After a good run in the Gloucester PTC Ben Woollaston says other players success can inspire other players.

read more | 1 comments

If you enjoy it, remember to share it with other sports fans

Sometimes Ronnie Should Just Let His Snooker Do The Talking

"Is snooker better off without Ronnie?" Ben Woolaston, snooker blog

I had a wry smile on my face when I read that Ronnie O’Sullivan wants to create a series of tournaments featuring players who he thinks “the public would like to see”. I don’t know Ronnie that well, he’s always been polite on the occasions we have met, but I tend to take these kinds of things he says with a pinch of salt.

&a

read more | 1 comments

If you enjoy it, remember to share it with other sports fans

Helping Put Barcelona On The Snooker Map

Thankfully we’re finally seeing a bit of summer weather in this country, I think I brought it back from Barcelona with me. I was there for five days to help coach some Spanish snooker players, and it was a very enjoyable experience – including a bit of opera, no less!

I was approached on Facebook by a chap called Francisco Domingues who asked if I would go over and coach him and 15 other players. I’d met him a few years back at a P

read more | 1 comments

If you enjoy it, remember to share it with other sports fans

Being A Snooker Pro Should Be A Full-Time Job

We heard this week that next season’s calendar is going to feature 50 weeks of action. That’s a lot of snooker but, in all honesty, we’re professionals and we should be playing every week. Barry Hearn says we’ve got to earn our money, and I totally agree with him. Any professional in any walk of life expects to be working all year around, and it should be no different for a snooker player – this is our job and it should be full-time, not just five or six tourname

Not Just Snooker Players Who Dream Of The Crucible

The World Championships have been really exciting so far, it’s making for some great viewing on TV. There’s one person who I wish was there though – and I don’t mean me this time! My wife Tatiana is a professional snooker referee and it’s her dream to make it to the Crucible.

Hot-Bed Of Snooker Talent

Leicester is a real hot-bed of snooker talent at the moment. As well as Mark Selby, the world No.1, we also have Tom Ford, Joe Jogia and yours truly. I can’t think of any other city that can boast four players in the top 64. One of the major reasons for this is the influence of Malcolm Thorne. He ran junior tournaments in Leicester for many years, bringing together some of the very best young talent from around the country to play each other every few weeks.

Player Profile

BIOG

Name: Ben Woollaston
Date of birth: May 14, 1987
Lives: Leicester
Turned pro: 2003
World ranking: 34
Best ranking performance: Won PTC3 event in 2011
Highest tournament break: 145

TEN QUESTIONS

What make of cue do you use? A Stamford cue, the same as Mark Selby and Ding Junhui
How many 147 breaks have you made, in competition or practice? Never in competition, but 14 in practice
Who is the best player you’ve ever played? Mark Selby. I’ve never played against him in a tournament, but I practise with him a lot. He’s the hardest player to beat, has the best all-round game and his temperament is fantastic. He’s like a young John Higgins
Who is the greatest player ever to pick up a snooker cue? On record, I’d have to say Stephen Hendry. But the best player I’ve ever seen is John Higgins
What is your favourite tournament venue? I haven’t been to many! But from a spectator’s point of view, the Crucible and Wembley, before the Masters moved to the Ally Pally
Best moment in snooker? Winning the PTC event for my first title as a professional
Worst moment in snooker? Probably losing to Ding Junhui in the 2012 China Open. I was 4-0 up but he came back to beat me 5-4. But I also lost 10-9 to Darren Morgan in the World Championship qualifiers in 2005 to stay on the main tour – that felt pretty bad too
What is your strongest trait as a player? My long potting
What is your walk-on music, and why? I’ve only been able to do it once! It was for the PTC Finals in Ireland, so I chose Beautiful Day by U2. I might have to have another look at that in the future
Greatest match you’ve ever been involved in, win or lose? Beating Graeme Dott to win the PTC final

THREE THINGS

Three things you like? 1) Belarus, because that’s where I met my wife Tatiana 2) Football 3) Golf
Three things you hate? 1) Eggs. I can’t stand the white bit, it’s my No.1 worst thing. I can eat anything, just not that 2) Wasps 3) Man Utd – I’m a Chelsea fan
Three things you want? 1)To get into the top 16 2) To win a ranking tournament 3) To start a family
Three things you regret? 1) I try not to regret anything. Sometimes I regret something I did in a match, but then it’s quickly gone
Three things that need doing at home? 1) Decorating 2) I need to cook more. Tatiana does most of the cooking, I chip in probably once a week 3) A new tip on my cue. I’ve had the same one all season, which is quite unusual, but I was playing well with it and got superstitious so didn’t want to change it. It’s now so small it needs changing

Follow Ben on Twitter: @ben_Woollaston

Read the latest snooker blog.