Introduction

David Lilley is currently an amateur snooker player looking to turn professional for the first time. He won the 1995 Amateur European Championships, beating David Gray 8-7 and won the English Amateur Championship two years later in 1997.

After juggling snooker with his job, he made a brilliant run in the 2016 Indian Open. He reached the quarter-final in the professional event, beating Mike Dunn, Mark Williams and Robert Milkins on the way. He made further progress in future amateur and professional events and reached the second round of the Snooker Shoot-Out, beating professional Chen Zhe.

Despite failing to qualify for the main tour via Q School, he finished top of the ranking list, which meant he is the first to top up the required number of entrants of ranking events this year. This season, the three-time English Amateur Champion reached the Last 32 of the International Championship and the Scottish Open and reached the final of two Challenge Tour events, winning one in Derby finishing runners-up in Budapest.

We exchanged a lot of lovely messages over the past couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy the interview below!

Interview – David Lilley

CoR: When did you start being interested in snooker in the first place?

David Lilley: I started playing pool at 11, as I used to go to the local working men’s club with my dad on Saturday afternoons. I picked it up quite quickly and when I was 13, I moved across to snooker.

CoR: You won the Amateur Championship 1995! Was your ambition always going to be a professional from the very start?

David Lilley: Yes, it’s always been an ambition but I decided to concentrate on a career first in order to have something to fall back on should snooker not take off.

In hindsight thats been my biggest regret as my career went well and the snooker side took a dip as I wasn’t playing as much. I’ve always kept my hand in over the years and since Barry Hearn took over a few years back the game is becoming bigger with more opportunities in the comps as well as prize money.

CoR: Your recent highlight of course was reaching the quarter-finals of the 2016 Indian Open! What do you remember of your wonderful run?

David Lilley: It was a while ago. I don’t remember much about it to be honest. I played well and I think it made it easier that I had no expectation other than to just play the table. Playing seasoned pros for the first time in my first professional competition was a real eye opener.

CoR: What’s the best professional event you participated in?

David Lilley: They’ve all been good. Not one stands out. I’ve had highs and lows but I guess everyone does that. The last three months has ben invaluable and I’ve learned a lot about the tour and about myself.

I so like Riga. I didn’t play at all well against Shaun losing 4-0 but the city and the weather were great. Everyone I come across was helpful and friendly.

CoR: Is it difficult juggling snooker tournaments and your current job? Ronnie O’Sullivan was pretty vocal on how snooker currently prices budding players out of the game.

David Lilley: I left my full-time job at the end of September in order to play the rest of the season on a full time basis. My aim is to put everything I have into achieving a main tour card next season. When I was at work, it was very time consuming and I spent little time with the family because I was practising six nights a week. Now I’m playing snooker full-time, its much easier to have a better work-life balance.

CoR: What is Q School actually like? Do you have a view of whether the Q School is the greatest way of getting the best players onto the tour?

David Lilley: Q School is a nightmare – it’s horrible. You have to peak in the 2-3 week period and all of your eggs in one basket. It’s really tiring mentally especially if you get to final stages in every event, like I did. After the third competition, I was shattered and really disappointed not to qualify. In my view a lot of the players are afraid of losing so generally the games go negative and very tactical. You don’t see many of the players actually going for their shots or playing attacking snooker. Big breaks are low in volume.

I don’t think it gets the best and consistent amateurs on the tour. That said the concept of Q School is great. Its cheap, one payment of £1k and you’ve entered three competitions. If you play well and fizz you can qualify. This is attractive to a lot of players so I can see the attraction.

I think if you want the best and most consistent players on the tour, it would make sense to have the qualifying over a period of time and over a number of events. Have for example a ‘B’ tour. I think the concept of The Challenge Tour is great. I think a few tweaks next year could make it a really good tour and hopefully have more main tour spaces for it. The downside is its a lot more expensive with travelling and entries.

CoR: Do you agree with with what some who say that because there are fewer competitions, there are less British talent coming through? Why do you think that is?

David Lilley: Who says that? I haven’t heard that to be honest but I think there is some good talent coming through. I also think there are lots of competitions for people to get involved in.

CoR: How do you rate your season so far?

David Lilley: My season has been average. I’ve missed a few tournaments but I’ve entered just about every one I could since October. I’ve had some good wins but I’ve played really poorly in a few games too. I think being able to bounce back quickly and not take the defeats to heart is really important.

CoR: Reaching the Last 32 in two ranking tournaments (Scottish Open and International Championship) and winning a Challenge Tour event isn’t too shabby!

David Lilley: Yes, you’re right. However, in both I performed awful in the L32 matches, which was disappointing. I’ve learned more about the game this season than I have done in the last 20 years. Hopefully, what Ive learned will help me do well in the remainder of the season.

CoR: I assume your main goal is to qualify for the professional tour…

David Lilley: Yes, my goal is to achieve a tour card. I’m working hard on the table and trying to get help for the mental side of the game too.

CoR: Are you planning to attend the EBSA Championships coming up in February? It must be more competitive now than back in 1995…

David Lilley: The standard is the same as there are lots of good players but there are more countries competing now and the European countries are producing some very good players. The EBSA run a good tournament and always have. For an amateur tournament they are ran very professionally with some good referees too.

I’m all booked up and cant wait to get out to Eilat, Israel. If I can peak for the EBSA Championship I’d be delighted!

CoR: You must have a lot of wonderful support to keep this going!

David Lilley: The support I’ve had over the last few years has been superb. Starting with the missus, I couldn’t do what I’m doing now without her support. She has loads of belief in me, sometimes more than I have in myself which is just nuts.

Then to my sponsors Gateshead Snooker Centre and GoSkippy Insurance. I’ve been playing at Gateshead for 30 years and they’ve supported me for that whole period. Peter Middleton who owns the club has had a major role in my snooker development and I cant thank him enough.

GoSkippy are part of a group of companies where I used to work and their financial support since November helped me compete without worrying about the financial impact of winning or not winning games. Their continued support is really important to me.