How home comforts can help Ashley Hugill impress in UK Championships
The 24-year-old from Melbourne, near York, has endured a tough baptism to life on snooker’s main Tour.
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Hide AdAfter earning a two-year Tour card via Q School in 2017, he has been scrapping for points, travelling the globe for tournaments.
Hugill has now swapped village life for the Steel City – snooker’s spiritual home, which plays host to the World Championship at the iconic Crucible theatre – where he trains at Victoria’s Academy, alongside top-32 players like Chinese duo Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong.
“It’s great experience, you can’t beat it, playing top-32 standard players in practice is going to help me get my game where it needs to be,” said Hugill.
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Hide Ad“I want to be at that level in the near future. I feel like I am improving a lot in practice, it’s just taking it from the practice table to the match table.”
Now in his second campaign as a professional, Hugill has had a tough start to this season, suffering early exits to top-32 opponents.
He was beaten by Liang Wenbo in the International Championship, Mark Allen (European Masters), Ryan Day (English Open) and Joe Perry (China Championship). “It’s been quite a tough start to the season,” he admitted. “I missed the first two events through not entering.
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Hide Ad“Right when the deadline was, I was moving house that week (to Sheffield), had loads on my mind and checked in a day late and missed it.
“Since then, I have had five tournaments and had fairly tough draws. I try and take the positives out of everything. I am learning from playing these top players, and when I do come up against someone lower in the rankings it will be easier for me, and I will have more experience.”
Hugill reached the last 16 of last season’s Scottish Open, but with a current world ranking of 87, the Yorkshireman knows he faces a battle to creep into the top 64 and retain his Tour place.
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Hide Ad“I think it will be a long shot to get in the top 64, but you never know with a good run in a tournament, you get your confidence up and you can get some momentum,” said Hugill. “Nothing is impossible. The top eight outside the top 64 on the one-year list also get new Tour cards.
“But it’s not the end of the world either if I don’t keep my Tour card. I know the level I play to, I will be more than capable of getting through Q School again. I got through it two years ago and know I am a much better player now than I was then.”
He may be living in Sheffield now, but Hugill will be making a swift return to his parental home next week, when he competes in the Betway UK Championship at the nearby York Barbican.
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Hide AdTwice in the last three seasons he has fallen in the first round – losing to Anthony McGill last year and Shaun Murphy in 2015 – but is hoping to break his duck as he faces Iranian Hossein Vafaei.
Hugill said: “I will go back home to my parents, it’s only 20 minutes from the Barbican. My folks are always trying to get me back, so I am sure they will be delighted.”
The Betway UK Championship runs from Tuesday November 27 to Sunday December 9. Tickets are still available and start at just £8. For details visit www.worldsnooker.com/tickets or 0844 854 2757.