Jack Lisowski Shakes Off Nearly Man Tag After Dramatic Northern Ireland Open Triumph

Jack Lisowski finally shrugged off the tag of being the best player never to win a ranking event, and now he wants more.

The 34-year-old silenced the critics by landing his maiden crown with a dramatic 9-8 victory over best pal and world No.1 Judd Trump at the Northern Ireland Open. 

It was seventh heaven for Lisowski, who had lost his previous six finals, three of those to Ace in the Pack Trump. 

But never again will ‘Jackpot’ Lisowski turn up to a tournament and be asked ‘will this be the week?’. 

Asked how that feels, he told SportsBoom.co.uk: “Thank god, thank god! It’s maybe the best thing to come from this week, you can change the subject now guys.”

And is this just the start for the 34-year-old, who has always been renowned as one of the most talented players on the World Snooker Tour?

“I don’t know? I hope so. Everyone says it’s going to [open the floodgates]. It feels like the beginning of my career all over again,” added the world No.24. 

“I’ve felt how hard it is to win a tournament. But now it’s not some elusive phoenix that I’m not sure exists or not. I’ve done it now, I’ve felt it.”

“If I win another one it will probably be very different and I hope it is anyway because I can’t feel like that all the time. I felt like I was going to pass out, it was all a blur.”

Storied Journey to Silverware

Lisowski’s journey to become a champion is more storied than most and for that is why he was such a popular winner in the snooker world on Sunday night. 

The argument that he is not tough enough is folly. Lisowski has endured trials and tribulations on and off the table which are hard for most of us to even begin to comprehend. 

He was diagnosed with cancer aged just 16 and beat the illness before turning professional at 19. 

Earlier this year he was sat at a restaurant in Hong Kong with Trump, ahead of playing him at the World Grand Prix, when he found out his dad had suddenly passed away.

Just two months ago Lisowski was driving home from Leicester having failed to qualify for the Xi’an Grand Prix, a moment which ultimately made him a champion.

He travelled to Brugge to see renowned coach Chris Henry and the rest, as they say, is history.

And Lisowski added: “He’s an amazing coach. Some of the mental stuff kind of goes over my head. I’m trying to listen to it.”

“We’ve not really spoken that much about the mental stuff to be honest, it’s been more technical. Chris is clever with all of that. I just do what he tells.”

“If you get a coach you’ve got to trust them 100 per cent and I’ve got the attitude that I’m going to do what he says.”

“He’s got me practicing some weird things and if I play bad I’m going to blame him!”

“But I can feel it working. I felt it working straight away. He taught me a lot of stuff about the cueball. It’s mad what I didn’t know, but I didn’t have a clue.”

“That’s where my bad’s been coming from and when I have a breakdown. I didn’t really understand how to pot a snooker ball with side and stuff. That took me a month to get my head around. It’s become more natural.”