Zak Surety hopes reaching a primary main semi-final is an indication he’s coming to phrases with the crippling anxiousness which has affected his snooker profession.
The 33-year-old from Essex made it to the final 4 of the World Open in Wuhan, China, on the finish of February earlier than dropping 6-5 to eventual winner John Higgins, having led 5-3 and missed a few reds within the deciding body.
Surety has had a stop-start involvement on the World Snooker Tour since turning skilled in 2014 however is now ranked 73 on the earth and hoping to qualify for this 12 months’s World Championship at The Crucible for the primary time.
“The entire journey over there was very surreal, a bit mad,” the left-hander informed BBC Essex’s Framed podcast.
“Though it was essentially the most constructive, sensible week I’ve ever had on a snooker desk, I am now filled with negativity from it actually due to what may have been.
“When it was 4-3, 5-3 and the probabilities had been showing, I slowly began to imagine I may truly win, after which it began to go unsuitable.
“When John was within the balls at 5-3 and ended up clearing up and it is 5-4, I believed ‘I’d by no means get this chance once more’ – and it is the unsuitable mind-set as a result of it was a breakthrough (for me), however you possibly can’t assist pondering that on the time.”
Surety mentioned that though he’s usually happier now by way of mindset, there have been occasions earlier within the season when he had a “little bit of a wobble” and mustn’t have performed.
“I am nonetheless doing the precise issues, practising every single day, I am completely satisfied off the desk, nonetheless doing a whole lot of working, however after I’m in there (at a match), it is nonetheless preventing that voice in your head,” he mentioned.
“In addition to I used to be doing (in China) it was nonetheless a continuing battle most days… every day, though the matches had been going nicely, I nonetheless discovered myself up and down the place I used to be dominating the matches however nonetheless discovered myself 2-2 on the interval and pondering ‘ooh, I might be going house right here’.”
