World number 71 Louis Heathcote enjoyed a landmark run to his first ever quarter-final in a full format tournament at last week’s BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
That included wins over fellow Leicester cueman Mark Selby, Jimmy Robertson and Tian Pengfei. Heathcote was eventually beaten by Elliot Slessor. We’ve caught up with the Englishman to hear his reflections on Belfast.
Louis, well done on making the last eight at the Waterfront Hall. How do you look back on the week?
“Firstly, I was delighted. I backed up the win against Mark with a couple more and I got stronger each game. The thing with snooker is that you are never happy. If you offered me quarter-finals before the start of the week, I’d have snapped your hand off. Once you are there, you want to go further. Unless you win the tournament you don’t ever come away completely happy. Elliot played a great match, kept it tight and didn’t let me get a rhythm. Fair play to him. He had a good game plan and executed it well. He deserved to win.
“I didn’t play great against Mark. You still have to get the job done, because he is four-time World Champion and one of the hardest players to beat. I wasn’t sure how I would play in the next game, but I actually played really well against Jimmy Robertson. I controlled that game well then was even better against Tian Pengfei, under pressure. Those two performances have given me a lot of confidence.”
Even though you didn’t play your best, how significant was it to beat someone like Mark Selby on a big stage?
“It was massive for me. I’m not used to playing on the TV table. I feel like I’m against a lot of top 16 players but I’ve only really played on the TV table with a crowd on two or three occasions. It is a bit of the unknown for me so it was nice to get my first win on there. Especially to do it against Mark. He always makes it as hard for you as possible no matter how he is playing and it was no different here with the match ending up 4-3. I’ve won a lot of deciders this season. It is nice to reflect on winning deciders.
“Knowing that you can play well under pressure is important. The deciders have been friendlier to me this season. I’ve been working on my cue action a bit. I feel I used to get quite tense under pressure and grip the cue a bit tighter. That has let me down in the past. This season I’ve started holding the cue looser, having a bigger backswing and a smoother action. Under pressure that is something to rely on.”
You fell off the tour two years ago, before regaining your professional status at Q School. Given your ranking, there is still work remaining to stay on this year. How tough is that to deal with mentally?
“It feels like it is never ending. Every time I get another tour card, I’m back in the same position two years later. It is a lot to deal with. It’s tough, but it isn’t meant to be easy. I’m enjoying the process, instead of putting too much pressure on myself. I know I work hard and I know well I can play. I’m confident in myself so I don’t want to think about that.
“You work hard for two years, miss out on the top 64 by a couple of grand and all of a sudden you have to do it all again. You need to go and beat top players to make any progress. It is a hard game and everyone is trying their absolute best. You just need to find that bit extra over the competition.”
How much added motivation has that run in Belfast given you to get yourself back to the business end of events more regularly?
“It has given me a taste for it. Walking out to my song and being introduced was one of the best feelings I’ve had. It gave me chills and goosebumps. That is a feeling that you want as many times as possible. Hopefully I can get back there soon. It isn’t easy though. A lot of people plod along without getting to these matches. The standard is so good and it is so difficult. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully I can go even further.
“My walk on music was a Martin Garrix song called No Sleep. The first time I heard it, I imagined myself walking out to the Crucible with it on. The hairs on my neck stood up. That was the first time I’d walked out to it and that was a really good feeling, one of the best I’ve had. A lot of people have had opinions on the song and said they didn’t think it was the best. The way it made me feel and picturing myself hopefully walking out at the Crucible with it was something I couldn’t ignore. I’ll stick with it.”