World number 42 Slessor reflects on an impressive 2023/24 season and looks ahead to the coming campaign as he pursues his ambition to win a tournament.
Elliot, are you enjoying the summer break?
Yes we had a great family holiday in Turkey, though it was 42 degrees which is too hot for me. I’m only practising around an hour a day at the moment but that will build up as we get towards the qualifiers in July.
How would you sum up last season?
I had a quiet first half, then I played better from the UK Championship onwards, with two quarter-finals and a semi-final. I lost a couple of nail-biters otherwise it could have been better.
That semi-final was at the Welsh Open when you lost 6-5 to Martin O’Donnell. He had a century in the deciding frame but did you feel that was one that got away?
Yes – I’ve played in three ranking event semi-finals now and in two of them I’ve lost the decider without getting a shot. But there were balls I missed earlier in the match against Martin and if I had taken those chances I might have reached the final and really fancied going on to win it. But that’s snooker – there are very narrow margins between victory and defeat. I have been on the tour for a while now, I’ve played at the Crucible twice and had quite a few runs to quarter and semi-finals of ranking events. I haven’t had a final yet but I’ve been so close, and if I keep doing the right things then hopefully I’ll get that breakthrough.
You lost your first match in the World Championship qualifiers 10-8 against Louis Heathcote, was that a tough one to take?
I came into that with a lot of confidence having got to the quarter-finals of the World Open. But Louis was brilliant, the best I have seen him play. He had a century and nine more breaks over 50. Sometimes you have to accept that someone comes out with an outlandish performance like that and there’s not much you can do. It’s swings and roundabouts because there are other days when you don’t play well and you still win.
You first turned pro in 2013 so that’s 11 years ago, but do you feel you are still learning?
I am nowhere near the finished article. I’m still gaining experience and I feel more comfortable out there. Not much fazes me, I believe in my own ability and I know I can beat the top players. But I know I can also lose to anyone. It’s a question of bringing it all together for seven matches in a row in a given week.
Who do you practise with?
I have been up to Scotland a few times, playing with John Higgins, Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill in their unit. The fastest way to learn is to practise against better players. You have to get sharp otherwise you’ll be picking balls out all day.
Are there areas of your game which you feel need to get better?
Two years ago I would have said my scoring, but that has definitely improved. The most important part of snooker is scoring heavily – if you do that you will always have a chance to win matches.
Have you set a target for the new season?
My goal every season is to win a title, that’s what I have always wanted to do. I want to experience a final and I haven’t done that yet, so that’s the next step. I’m only 29 so hopefully I have a long time ahead of me to achieve what I want to do. There have been players who have won their first title in their mid-30s and then gone on to win a lot more.
Gary Wilson being a good example…
Yes – and Gary was always good enough to win tournaments. But sometimes you need those years of experience behind you to keep making steps forward. The standard throughout the tour is so good now. You look at Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams, they are all nearly 50 but they still play to such a high standard and are so well schooled. I lost to Mark in my first ranking event semi-final (the 2017 Northern Ireland Open) and he was just too good. There are a lot of great players in their 40s. But there aren’t as many around my age group, aside from the likes of Judd Trump, Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson, so hopefully there will come a time when players of my age are winning more tournaments. But it’s not easy – look at Liam Highfield who is 33, I have known him since he was a junior and always rated him very highly, and he has dropped off the tour. I hope he comes back because he’s got the ability.
We’ve recently announced that all tour players will be going to Riyadh for the new Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters – how much are you looking forward to it?
It’s fantastic, I’m a big boxing fan and I know the Saudis have invested in a lot of sports so it’s great that snooker is included now. Particularly for the young players on the tour it’s going to be an amazing experience to go and play there.
Finally, how do you rate England’s chances in the Euros?
I’d love to see us win it but my head says that the likes of Germany and France will be stronger. We probably have the best squad but the way we play under Gareth Southgate is too defensive. I’d rather we played like Newcastle under Kevin Keegan, pushing forward and saying ‘you might score two but we’ll score five.’ It was the same in the 2021 final against Italy – they had a few players in their 30s and we should have just overwhelmed them, but we sat too deep.