Chris Wakelin: 'If anybody underestimates me then more fool them'

11/22/2024 09:07 AM

Chris Wakelin is riding a wave of positivity and it will see him surf into York next week as a top 16 player at the UK Championship.

A run to the final of the International Championship earlier this month got the 32-year-old into the elite group for the first time, having been to an English Open semi and Wuhan Open quarter already this season.

He may have fallen short in the showpiece in Nanjing against Ding Junhui, but the superb run saw him beat Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Xiao Guodong along the way, four players also in the world’s top 16.

Wakelin has elevated himself from solid mid-ranking professional to a top level performer and he has done so by working on his weaknesses and eliminating negative influences in his life.

This is illustrated by his highlight from his International Championship run, which was just one moment against Williams.

‘There was a particular shot that stood out in the victory over Mark Williams, someone who I'd never beaten before,’ Wakelin told Metro.

‘I've had a couple of shots this season that have cost me matches and I've been told they were completely the wrong shot to go for. Whereas I know my strengths and weaknesses, when to be aggressive and when not to be.

‘The shot against Mark Williams was slamming a yellow into the middle pocket. It would have been very easy to shy away from that, but I took the bull by the horns to claim the victory and that was the catapult for the rest of the week.

‘Middle pockets were a real weakness of mine. Not really helped by the fact that people I used to surround myself with always pointed out that it was a weakness of mine. So every time I had a ball to middle I was worried I wouldn't pot it.

‘Whereas having good friends and good supporters around me now, I don't have to think about those sorts of shots, I know I'm going to pot it and that's the end of it.

‘Having that confidence in that area of the game now, that's been the biggest difference over the last 18 months, working on parts of my game that needed to be worked on and implementing them in matches.’

Wakelin’s decision to move home to Rugby after 10 years away has coincided with his notable improvement on the table over the last couple of years.

‘It was important to me to be close to my family back in Rugby and I've spent so much time with them over the last couple of years, it's great to have them around,’ he said.

‘It's difficult finding the right team, because it is a team thing snooker. All your preparations need to be done with good people around you. The people I have in my life now are all cut from the same cloth. They're very positive. They big me up when I need it, put me in my place when I need it. But I only have people in my life who encourage as opposed to hinder me. That's a big difference.’

The world number 15 felt that people around him previously were getting him down on and off the table. It may well have been unintentional on their part, but he needed to make a change.

‘People are unaware, it can be joking, it's funny the first time but not the 50th time you hear the same joke at your expense,’ he said. ‘That's true whether it be your career, relationship, education, whatever aspect. If you're constantly hearing negativity and “you can't” as opposed to “you can,” you start to believe it. The change for me was only having people in my life that believe in me.

‘As men we're conditioned to believe that's how it is. You make a laugh and a joke about it. I'm not that serious a person, but having consistent ridicule is not going to help anybody.

‘I'm a positive person, happy go lucky, but there've been times in my life where things haven't been rosy, I can assure you. But I've got a loving girlfriend, going to become a father, career's on the up, all my friends are happy and healthy.

‘A good friend of me said that you're a product of the five people you spend most of your time with. If you surround yourself with negative, downbeat people who have no ambition then it rubs off on you. If those people are hard working, committed, optimistic then you find yourself being a product of that environment.’

Speaking to Wakelin feels like hearing from an enlightened man, who has escaped a nightmare and is now flourishing in a new life.

‘It's been said a few times that I'm one of the most improved players on tour, I think more than that I'm psychologically 10 times the man I was a couple of years back,’ he said.

‘If I met myself from two years ago I wouldn't recognise him.’

The new Wakelin does not intend to let his momentum slip and wants to continue to make an impact next week on one of snooker’s biggest stages.

When put to him that he must be going to the UK Championship for the trophy, he said: ‘Seems strange to say that doesn't it?

‘I've never reached the last 32 of the UK Championship before. So to qualify and go straight there is huge achievement.

‘To go there as a seed, in years gone by that would have been an added pressure I wouldn't want, but I'm going to thrive off it, I've earned this place. Top 16 players are all fully deserving of their place and I've earned my place there as well.

‘Whoever I draw, the bookmakers might make me second favourite, but I know I'm there for a reason and if anybody underestimates me then more fool them.’

Wakelin has drawn Matthew Selt in his opener and plays at 1pm on Monday.