I’m alright Jack

By Elliott West

“An authentic talent”

Phil Yates
Introduction

One of the current stars of the snooker tour, has to be, Jack Lisowski. A close friend of Judd Trump, Jack has long been tipped to be champion material but has struggled to reach his true potential. Lisowski freely admits that he suffers with confidence issues and often “gets excited” when he is about to reach the winning line. However recent events show that he has managed to curb this burst of energy and has proved this by reaching the final of this week’s Grand Prix after beating Mark Selby, 6-4 to line up a mouthwatering match with Judd Trump.

Background

Jack was born in Cheltenham in 1991 and was diagnosed in 2008, aged 16 with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As a amateur, Lisowski displayed great potential, reaching the final of the 2007 Junior Pot Black, losing to Mitchell Mann, 0-1, won PIOS- event 1 in 2009 and the English Amateur Championship and PIOS -event 8 in 2010.

Turning professional in 2010, Jack joined Grove Leisure to refine his game and with his illness in remission, Lisowski started to flourish. Over the following years, Lisowski moved deeper and deeper into tournaments and by 2018 was reaching finals. A string of finals ensued, 2018 – Riga Masters, 2019 – China Open, Scottish Open and the Championship League. This has culminated in him reaching the final of this week’s Grand Prix.

The Future

Lisowski has the credentials to be a multiple tournament winner and at the time of writing this piece, has the chance of beating Judd Trump in the Grand Prix final. Like his great friend Judd, Jack has a very attacking style of play and loves to impress with his fast style of play. Now 15th in the world rankings, Jack could quite easily be a top eight player. He clearly doesn’t fear any opponent and has the metal to win. Perhaps now is his time and he can win a title instead of being the journeyman that he has become in recent years.

Conclusion

Jack Lisowski has been as high as 11th in the rankings, made £709,746 in career earnings, made 201 centuries and achieved a maximum break at the 2012 World Championship qualifiers. Pretty impressive for a player who has only been a professional since 2010. Lisowski is a fine cue smith and deserves the run of good form that has fond in recent years. A player who will be on the circuit for many years and hopefully a plethora of trophies.

Picture courtesy of Sporting Life

Since writing this piece, Jack lost 7-10 to Judd at the Grand Prix but was praised for his courageous fightback when many thought he was out of the match.

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