Lam’s Tales

Sanderson looks back on tournaments in China and Romania….

Hello snooker fans!

March has been a very busy month for me, flying out to China for the Haikou World Open before playing in the EBSA Under-21 Championship in Romania a few weeks ago.

I enjoyed every minute of the World Open, seeing for myself how mad the Chinese fans are for their snooker over there. I’ve seen how big it is becoming in Europe after playing in the European Tour events and it’s great knowing that snooker is so big now over in China too.

I played a Chinese wildcard, Chen Zifan, and lost 5-3, but he played very well and I think he has a very bright future if he carries on playing the way he did against me.

I played that match on the Monday but didn’t have a flight back until the Friday, so I travelled to Nanning which is only an hour flight away and went to visit my grandma and uncle who I hadn’t seen since I was six.

While I was there, I also had to practise, as I had the European Under-21s in Romania as soon as I got back from China. I practised in a big club where every table had a referee. I thought it was brilliant and I ended up doing an exhibition as they knew I had played in the World Open earlier that week.

I flew back to England at the end of the week and stayed at home for just one day before setting off to Romania to try and win a spot on the main tour from the European-Under-21s. I played really well in the group stage and got through three knockout rounds, but unfortunately was beaten in the quarter-finals by Ashley Carty who won 5-3.

I was bit disappointed as I had played really well to get to the quarters, but then ran out of steam. Ashley played very well and he had cracking back-to-back tons to go 4-2 and eventually came out a 5-3 winner.

Thankfully my best friend Oliver Lines, who I practise with at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, lifted the title and I thought he played the best throughout the whole week.

It’s now back to the practice table for me as I’ve got the World Championship qualifiers in just over a week before Q-School in May, to try and get a tour card for the next two seasons.

All the best for now
Sanderson