How Alex Higgins inspired me to play snooker
One of my great passions in life, if you could call it that is playing snooker. I became interested in snooker from watching players like Alex Higgins and Jimmy White in the 1980s.
At the age of around ten, I was bought a small five foot snooker table for Christmas. It was probably one of the best Christmas presents I was ever bought. I would seemingly be never off this little snooker table and would invite some of my friends round to also play.
When I was twelve, I joined a snooker club with a close friend of mine and we started to play on the full size snooker tables. The tables looked so massive and suddenly the art of playing snooker became that much harder.
My first aim was to get a break of ten, which was then followed with a break of twenty.
I became quite obsessed and some would say quite sad, as whenever I had any spare time or spare cash I would go down to the snooker club to practice. I would even practice their on my own. My ultimate goal was not to become a professional like my idols, Higgins and White but to achieve a break of one hundred.
I entered many tournaments with mixed success, I probably won twelve minor local tournaments. I also joined a league team and played on most Wednesday evenings during the snooker season.
At the age of twenty seven after playing snooker on full size snooker tables for fifteen years I finally managed to score my first one hundred break. A week later I managed to get another one hundred break, a bit like the buses hey!
I must admit my determination has now started to wane and even though I still love to play snooker, I have not managed another one hundred break since.
About the Author
Stephen Hill has a couple of websites at http://www.internet-webdesign.co.uk and at http://www.lasik-laser-surgery.co.uk.