By Elliott West
“Fortune favours the brave”
Proverb
Introduction
They say hard work pays off and no more does this ring true in the life of the professional snooker player, Jordan Brown. By lifting the Ray Reardon trophy at the Welsh Open, the man they call the ‘Antrim Ferrari’ had completed a full circle, from despair to success. A journey that wouldn’t have been possible without the support of his parents, coach and his practice partner and good friend, Mark Allen. Once an outsider with odds of 750-1 to win the Welsh Open, Brown elevated himself from working at a petrol station to make ends meet and clawed his way back from falling off the main snooker tour. A transition that deserves further exploration.
Soul Searching
To discover how this monumental victory ever occurred, one has to go back to the beginning. Born in 1987 and now aged 33, Brown hails from Antrim in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has traditionally been a hotbed for snooker for many generations, producing the likes of Alex Higgins, Joe Swail, Dennis Taylor and more recently Mark Allen.
Jordan Brown had a successful amateur career, winning the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship on four occasions, 2008, 2009, 2017 and 2018, being runner-up in 2013, 2015 and 2016. He was also runner-up in the 2018 EBSA European Snooker Championship. In 2016, Brown received a wildcard invitation to play in the inaugural Northern Ireland Open. A tournament that brought him limited success, beating Ben Woolaston 4-2 in the first round before losing to Kyren Wilson in the second round by the same scoreline.
In May, 2018, Jordan entered the Q School in a bid to qualify for the professional snooker tour. Losing to Jak Jones in the first round of the first event, Brown did however secure his place in the second event, beating Jamie Jones and Jamie Cope. This lucky break was the start of his road map to success. Although it was one that meant working long hours in a local petrol station and had a scare when he nearly fell off the tour, a fate that boiled down to a single match.
If you walked through the doors of Jordan’s local snooker club, Antrim Sports Club during this period, one would have found the Irishman beavering away with his coach Marty Brammeld or practicing with his good friend, Mark Allen. With the added support of his girlfriend and parents, Brown gradually chipped away at the tournaments thrown at him, a breakthrough coming in the 2021 Welsh Open where he reached the semi-final after a quarter-final victory over three-time World Champion, Mark Selby. He then continued this impressive run by beating Stephen Maguire. A favourite is the match, Maguire struggled to cope with the seismic performance that Jordan threw at win. A match that ended with a 6-1 victory and started media tongues wagging.
In a final, that had Jordan Brown firmly placed as the underdog. Ranked 81, Brown was about to face a David and Goliath battle with Ronnie O’Sullivan. In a match where both players literally played out of their skins, Ronnie looked shot as Jordan took an early 4-1 lead but O’Sullivan, who was hungry for a fifth Welsh Open title, did some soul searching and pulled the match back to 5-5 and then 7-7.
With the flow of play, this final had a deciding frame written all over it and so the match ended with both players locked in a 8-8 stalemate after O’Sullivan knocked in a 118 break. However it was Jordan who managed to keep his composure and seize victory, lifting the Ray Reardon glass trophy and a £70,000 first prize.
A tearful Brown watched on as Ronnie, gracious in defeat, praised his opponent, the first lower-ranking player to attain a title since Dave Harold won the Asian Open in 1993 and the first Irishman to win the Welsh title. O’Sullivan commented, saying in his post-match speech:
“I don’t know Jordan well enough to know his complete story but I’m over the moon for him to have got that victory today. How can you not be pleased for him?”
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Brown’s Welsh Open victory, now opens so many doors for the 33 year old. He had to ask his girlfriend to post a waistcoat to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, so that he had one for the start of the Players Championship this week. A tournament that will see him in a first round draw against John Higgins. He will also be eligible to play in the Champion of Champions. A fitting end to a journey that has produced many twists and turns but in the end, proved that hard work pays dividends.
Summary
Jordan Brown is clearly a very talented player but has had to endure a long struggle to reach his dream of being a successful player. The winning of the Welsh Open was no accident and hopefully will lead to further titles in the forthcoming years of his professional career. Jordan has escaped those dark days he spoke about and can look forward to a much brighter future.
