JACK LISOWSKI hit “rock bottom” in his snooker career last month – just seven weeks before achieving his greatest sporting moment.
One of the most heartwarming stories of this year on the baize saw the Cheltenham potter break his ranking tournament duck on Sunday night.
The big Lisowski, 34, beat best friend Judd Trump 9-8 in the final of the Northern Ireland Open and he wept tears as he finally got over the winning line, having had SIX final defeats since 2018.
It has been an emotional year because he lost his dad back in March and there had been fears he might never pick up silverware within the professional ranks.
But Lisowski – an adventurous and exciting player to watch, but one who has often been undisciplined – hit a low point on the night of September 2 in Leicester.
He lost 5-4 to world No110 Xu Yichen in qualifying for the lucrative Xi’an Grand Prix.
It was that moment of devastation that forced him to seek “technical” help with Belgian-based coaching guru Chris Henry, who has worked with many top names, and the results speak for themselves.
Lisowski, who wore his late dad’s lucky socks and is using a new cue tip, said: “This is mad. Sometimes I guess you’ve got to hit rock bottom to make a change.
“If I hadn’t lost that qualifier, I don’t think I’d have bothered going to Bruges and seeing Chris Henry.
“Me and my uncle spoke in the car. We’re like, something’s got to change. I know Chris is like a top coach.
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“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that in six, seven weeks he’d turn me around from maybe a career low to this magic moment. We’ve been through enough. There have been so many downs.
“I lost one semi-final to Tom Ford and we’ve got back to the hotel and I’m just sat on the floor outside the room, I didn’t know what to do.
“This could be the start of something beautiful. Hopefully this is the start of my career. I have served my apprenticeship. Now I’m here.
“Winning a tournament isn’t an elusive phoenix that I’m not sure if it exists. I’ve done it now. I’ve felt it.”
The victory in Belfast was no fluke as he beat three world champions – Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson and Trump – and could be the start of more major success and a real rivalry with other English cueists.
Lisowski, known as Jack-Pot, knuckled down and considered snooker “not as fun and games” when his dad died, and he fully committed himself to the baize.
His attitude to life has always been a laidback one and that is because at the age of 16 he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer.
A nine-month ordeal followed, involving 16 rounds of chemotherapy, and he continues to need routine medical monitoring.
‘I was convinced I was going to die’
But the time, back when he was a junior snooker player, “I was convinced I was going to die”.
Reflecting back on that period Lisowski said: “When I was sick, when I was like 16, I was straightaway looking for people that had overcome cancer.
“I read Lance Armstrong’s book and I remember some of his words and that really affected me in a positive way, when I was at the lowest point of my life.
“If anyone can kind of look at my story, I’ve been at rock bottom when I was 16, rock bottom this year, and to stick through it and then end up having the greatest sporting moment of my life.
“Things always go wrong for people. Life’s tough. I feel like everyone’s either about to go into a crisis, they’re in a crisis or they’re just coming out of a crisis. It’s like a constant wave.
“But if someone can see me, I can let them know, I was in an absolute crisis many times in my life and here I am today healthy and now a world snooker ranking winner.
“If I can inspire someone, I’m not trying to be like Gandhi or anything, but if I can make someone feel better about themselves that would be amazing.”
