The past three or four months have been a golden age for the Northeast Snooker Club, with Gary Wilson and Elliot Slather winning the Premier World Championships with David Leary beating the likes of Ken Dahdi and Jimmy White at the Senatorial World Championships in May. For Lilly, 45, he spends most of his practice time at the Gateshead Snooker Center across the River Tyne, and perhaps there's something better waiting for him later...
"I started playing snooker when I was 13. I had been playing billiards since I was a child until one day I said to my father that I wanted to play at one of the biggest tables. So I got into the snooker movement, and I was hooked. When I was 19 years old, I won my first major event title, the European Championships. That same year, I lost to the late Paul Hunt in the final of the Northern Amateur Snooker Championship. Forced to make a living, I got another job. I didn't have much money at the time, and I couldn't find a sponsor. I'd love to turn pro, but I don't have the money to do it.
"After the tobacco sponsors were expelled from the snooker arena, the sport of snooker was greatly negatively affected – about six races remained each year. At that point, I had won the British Amateur Snooker Championship, three consecutive years of ciu, I was one of the best amateurs in the world, and I also had a pretty good job, so I felt it wasn't worth giving up my job to compete in the few races of the year. I continued to work in the insurance industry for a few years, and then Barry Herne took over the snooker and brought the sport back to the golden age of the eighties, with sixteen or seventeen races a year. At the same time I was thinking, 'You know, I'm almost 40 – I need to make a decision, go ahead or stay the same.' I was actually working on it, and I made the final decision at a team building workshop. There was a guest speaker named Brandon Hall, who had participated in the Circumnavigation of the Globe, and he said a lot of things that touched me deeply. I thought: 'All these signs tell me I have to leave my current job to play snooker full-time.' I told my boss I was leaving, and I did.
"I started on the Tour two years ago. Ironically, while I was struggling to wait for the opportunity to turn professional, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and almost all games were cancelled! There is no worse time to wait.
"However, winning the Senatorial World Championship earlier this year did change everything after that. After overcoming a shoulder injury (the result of 48 hours of practice a week), I felt like I was starting to play well again and playing exceptionally well that week at the Senators World Championships. The experience was unbeatable. To be able to win the title in Snooker-Sanclusk- Crucible was so dreamlike for me. You've seen a game on TV when two tables are side by side, but even if you're just playing on a field with only one table, Crucible feels very cramped. It makes me nervous and you feel the pressure directly from all sides. You're going to be interviewed every once in a while, and it's all putting constant pressure on you. I feel like I get a little better with every game I play, all the way to the final against Jimmy White. Playing against my hero, Jimmy White, is really unreal. He is also a great guy and he has been friendly throughout the week.
"Last month, I played at the British Open in Leicester. It's the second time it's been held since 2004 in 17 years, and it's a bit like the FA Cup in snooker, where random draws are really great for spectators because it's possible for two top players to play against each other in the first round, like mark Selby and Sean Murphy this year. I won the first round and I played very well. I didn't give my opponent Craig Steedman too many chances and I made it 3:1. I played against Jordan Brown in the second round, but it was a game dominated by luck. Losing the game was disappointing with me always in charge of the game, but you had to take the lead and come back and keep fighting.
"I was so excited when I knew I had the opportunity to compete in this year's championship competition. Just ten seconds before I did my interview for ITV4 on Tuesday night, I knew! Rob Walker and I stood with each other chatting about the Olympics, and just as the cameras were about to start filming, he said, 'So, David, how do you feel about going to a championship game?' I couldn't believe it. People will laugh at me, but in my opinion it's the most meaningful game – all the players who play have to be champions of a certain competition. It's the game I've always dreamed of. I can't wait to start counting down the races and I am very grateful to my sponsor, Goskippy Insurance, for their continued support.
"I'm a super fan of Newcastle (Premier League football team). For the past 18 months, it's been a torture that I can't go to St. James' Park to watch the game. I was going to go to burnley and Southampton again, but WST just revised its event calendar and I had to play a qualifier! But as the season goes on, I'm definitely going to go live and watch some football games. I just hope we can finish a season as fully as last season, and I'm looking forward to better changes in the future.