UK Championship snooker 2020 – Jack Lisowski aims to 'shut up' his critics with first title

ByEurosport

Updated 04/12/2020 at 14:12 GMT

Jack Lisowski is bidding to win his first major title in the sport at the 2020 UK Championship in Milton Keynes after reaching the last eight. At the age of 29, Lisowski admits he is fed up with suffering criticism about his style of play from pundits. Speaking at the Marshall Arena, Lisowski was very honest.

Jack Lisowski is aiming to hit the jackpot at the UK Championship to silence the doubters who believe he is too "erratic" to win a major title.

The attacking Cheltenham player turned professional in 2010, but has yet to lift a ranking event despite being tipped to emulate his close friend and undisputed world number Judd Trump by becoming a serial tournament winner.

At the age of 29, Lisowski has finished runner-up in the 2018 Riga Masters final and the finals of the Scottish Open and China Open in 2019 as he bids to make good on his burgeoning talent.

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Speaking at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, the world number 16 – who meets China's world number 25 Zhou Yuelong in his first Triple Crown quarter-final – admits that criticism of him from pundits, including world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan working for Eurosport, in the past has had a negative effect on his family.

After he lost six straight frames to world finalist Kyren Wilson in the Masters first round in a 6-2 defeat in January, O'Sullivan said: "...to lose six frames on the bounce, you can't do that. There's something seriously wrong in your game".

The man nicknamed 'Jackpot' is out prove that he can take the next step in snooker.

"My family when they are watching me on TV they mute it and put music on. And when I have listened to it as well I do get a hard time. The style I play is risky, but that has got me to where I am. I am given a hard time when I play certain shots," said Lisowski in the Mirror newspaper.

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"I have accepted that is part of my game at the moment but I am trying to improve on that. I don't proclaim to be some great player, but they seem to rate me maybe because I play fast and then judge me accordingly. If I make it look easy, it doesn't feel it to me.

"But I definitely get given a hard time and maybe I do feel it out there, thinking too much about what they are saying and I shouldn't. It probably does add pressure. I know when I hit certain shots the guys in the comms box are saying 'What was that', I'm thinking the same thing.

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"But that is my style, I am erratic and the sooner I can win something and get rid of that tag of 'good player who won't win a tournament' the better. Maybe everything will get easier if I can do that. You can't shut these people up until you have won.

"I want to win a title mainly for me, but also to show other people. And that is why I am trying so hard to win any tournament I can and get that first 'W'. It is a long time coming but I hope it will be worth it."

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