Introduction

Andrew Pagett had several stints as a professional snooker player. During his second stint, Pagett qualified for the main stages of a ranking event for the first time. He won four matches, where he defeated players such as Nigel Bond and Andrew Higginson to reach the World Championships! He lost to Jamie Cope 10-7 in the first round at the Crucible.

After dropping off the tour, Pagett participated in Players Tour Championship events. He beat the likes of Stuart Bingham, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Neil Robertson to reach the 2012 Antwerp Open semi-finals. This run earned him the right to qualify for the main tour again. Despite reaching the Last 32 for the second time of his career in the 2014 Welsh Open, Pagett dropped off tour and announced his retirement.

During retirement, Pagett was excelling as an amateur. Among other accolades, Main highlights of The Welsh Wizard include reaching the 2016 IBSF World Snooker Championship final, 2017 Cue Slam champion, and becoming the 2017 European Team Champion with compatriot Alex Taubman. Since then, Pagett attempted to qualify for the main tour via Q School, WSF Open, and The Challenge Tour. After winning three Challenge Tour events, Pagett finally got his breakthrough in the 2020 European Snooker Championships, where he beat Finn Heikki Niva 5-2 to turn professional again.

We had a lovely chat earlier and our interview is underneath. Enjoy!

Interview – Andrew Pagett

Qualifying for the Crucible

CoR: How is the lockdown life treating you?

Andrew Pagett: Lockdown has been pretty good considering the circumstances. I’ve put a dart board up and played against a couple of snooker players through FaceTime. I also had a couple of games with professional darts player and good friend Gerwyn Price. Lately, I’ve been helping to paint Darren Morgan’s snooker club so that when it opens, we have a newly refurbished club.

But now after all this time off I think I’m ready to get back on the baize and practicing at that club.

CoR: Looking back at your career, what are your main snooker highlights?

Andrew Pagett: I’ve had a pretty up and down career. Personally I think that’s through being in love with the sport and then totally falling out of love with it. Snooker holds many highs and lows, and that’s something I’ve struggled to accept with in the past.

Looking back at my achievements as a professional and at an amateur level, I think they’ve been quite good. Qualifying for the 2011 World Championships at the Crucible was the obvious highlight. My other one would be my semi-final run in the Antwerp Open.

CoR: When you retired back in 2015, did you ever think you would return to snooker again? I remember reading that you couldn’t wait for your final match to be over!

Andrew Pagett: When I retired from the professional game, I said I’d never go back. Because of the immense amount of traveling and the loneliness of being a professional, I missed my two daughters growing up. At the time, I set up and started running my own business, so it felt more of a chore to be a snooker player.

But after continuing to play at an amateur level, it made me realise that traveling is inevitably going to be part of my life. Because of this, I thought I might as well travel at the top of my sport. After one year of hard work, I’ve now secured a professional card for two years!

CoR: What made you decide to become a professional again?

Andrew Pagett: I wanted to go back professional because I’ve now got a brilliant team of people around me. They pick me up when I’m down and look after things for me so I can concentrate fully on snooker.

I’ve got to thank my manager Tom Cosens (TCL Management) and Darren Morgan for supporting me and having faith in me. Also, I want to thank my family and friends for being there when I’m not at the top of my game.

In the Amateur Wilderness

CoR: You became a Grand Slam champion with the Gujarat Kings in India in 2017. How on earth did that come about and what was the experience like?

Andrew Pagett: I had recently lost the world amateur final, but that meant I was seen as one of the best amateurs in the world. So I got invited for a fee, not knowing what it was all about or what I was in for. The organisers treated me like royalty! Then to win it and became a Cue Slam champion was the icing on the cake for me.

CoR: How do you think the circuit can be improved? You were quite outspoken of the Challenge Tour venues and how wildcards were dealt out in professional events!

Andrew Pagett: There needs to be lots of improvements in the amateur game with the Challenge Tour and Q School. They haven’t got it right yet but with a bit of tweaking I think they will eventually. I have many things to say about the amateur game because I attended every single event.

I personally think the Challenge Tour should hold more places. It’s a seasoned ranking system and that will bring the best to be professionals. My problem is it costs around £6,000 – £7,000 to travel for the year to all of the events for just 2 spots available! At Q School you play for a couple of weeks at a cost of around £1,500 and there are 16 spots available.

To me that’s the wrong way round and those are the main things that need to be looked at.

CoR: What was it like (eventually) participating as a top-up in this year’s Snooker Shoot-Out?

Andrew Pagett: The Shoot-out was amazing. I loved every minute of being around my friends again and having the feel of being a professional again was truly inspirational. I had a practice with Ronnie and Selby whilst there and they made me feel right at home.

Back As A Professional Once Again

CoR: Considering there was so many warning over the coronavirus outbreak during the week of the European Amateur Championships, why did you go to Portugal in the end?

Andrew Pagett: Going to Portugal was a massive decision for me. If it wasn’t for Darren Morgan being out there already playing in the 6 Reds European Championships then I’d probably not had gone. I spoke to Darren, and he assured me it was a massive opportunity for me and with minimal risk. In the end that’s what convinced me to stick to the plan.

CoR: After winning the European Championships, how did it feel that you were going to be a professional again?

Andrew Pagett: Winning the European championships just took a massive weight off my shoulders. I would have to win in the Challenge Tour playoffs as Lukas Kleckers piped me at the post for the automatic pro card. If that didn’t happen, then I would have to go to Q School again. So now I’ve won, there’s no need to go to either so it was a huge relief.

CoR: Have you set goals once the season starts? You already said you have the ability to shoot up the rankings!

Andrew Pagett: Going forward to the professional status yet again, I think I’m more mature and headstrong then what I was years ago. I recognise my abilities and I have confidence in my all round game.

I never really set goals. I’d rather just deal with the situations when they come otherwise. You can pretty much get down on yourself being a sportsman at a top level, but I still beat the best when I was a lesser player years ago. Now I know my game and my strengths I surely believe in myself to give it a good go.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks go to Andrew Pagett for agreeing to be interviewed by me.

I take no credit for the images used in this interview. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) and the European Billiards and Snooker Association (EBSA) are owners of some of the photographic material.

All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of content is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the author (Cluster of Reds Snooker Blog).