Chris Wakelin is riding a wave of positivity and will see him surf to York next week as a top 16 player at the British Championships.
A run to the final of the International Championships earlier this month catapulted the 32-year-old into the elite group for the first time, having made the British Open semis and Wuhan Open quarters this season.
He may have failed to perform in Nanjing against Ding Junhui, but his incredible run saw him beat Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Xiao Guodong along the way, four players also in the world’s top 16.
Wakelin has elevated himself from a solid mid-ranking professional to a top-level player and he’s done it by working on his weaknesses and eliminating negative influences in his life.
This is illustrated by the highlights of the International Championship run, which was only once against Williams.
“There was a certain shot that came out in the victory against Mark Williams, a man he had never beaten,” Wakelin said. Metro.
“I’ve had a few shots this season that have cost me matches and I’ve been told that they were wrong shots. Whereas I know my strengths and weaknesses, when to be aggressive and when not.
A shot against Mark Williams blew the yellow into the center pocket. It would be very easy to shy away from it, but I took the bull by the horns to claim victory and that catapult to the rest of the week.
‘The middle pocket is my weakness. Not really helped by the fact that the people I used to surround me with always pointed out that it was a weakness of mine. So every time I had the ball to the middle, I was worried that I wouldn’t catch it.
‘Even though I have good friends and good supporters around me now, I don’t have to think about the types of shots, I know I’m going to pot and that’s the end.
‘Having confidence in that area of the game now, that’s been the biggest difference in the last 18 months, working on the parts of the game that need to be worked on and implemented in matches.’
Wakelin’s decision to move to Rugby after 10 years away has coincided with a marked improvement at the table over the past few years.
“It’s important for me to be close to my family at Rugby and I’ve spent a lot of time with them over the years, it’s great to be there,” he said.
“It’s hard to find the right team, because it’s a team snooker. All your preparation has to be done with good people around you. The people I have in my life now are all cut from the same cloth. They are very positive. They raised me when I need it, put me where I need it. But I just have people in my life who support me instead of holding me back.’
The number 15 in the world felt that the people around him before him went down and down the table. It may not be intentional, but he needs to change.
“People don’t understand, they can joke, it’s funny the first time but not the 50th time you hear the same joke at your expense,” he said. ‘That’s true whether it’s career, relationships, education, any aspect. If you constantly hear negativity and “you can’t” instead of “you can,” you start to believe it. The only thing that changed for me was having people in my life who believed in me.
‘As men, we have to believe that this is the case. You make us laugh and joke about it. I’m not a serious person, but constant taunting isn’t going to help anyone.
‘I am a positive, happy go lucky person, but there have been times in my life where things have not been good, I can assure you. But I have a loving boyfriend, soon to be a father, career on the rise, all my friends are happy and healthy.
‘A good friend of mine said that you are the product of the five people you spend most of your time with. If you surround yourself with negative, unambitious people, it will destroy you. If they are hardworking, committed, optimistic, then you will be a product of that environment.’
Talking to Wakelin is like hearing from someone who has been enlightened, who has escaped a nightmare and is now thriving in a new life.
‘You have said many times that I am one of the best players on tour, I am more than that I am psychologically 10 times the person I was a few years ago,’ he said.
‘If I met myself from two years ago I wouldn’t recognize anyone.’
Freshman Wakelin doesn’t want to let his momentum go and wants to continue to make an impact next week on one of snooker’s biggest stages.
When told he would have to go to the British Championships for the trophy, he said: “Does it seem strange not to say?
‘I’ve never been to the last 32 of an English Championship before. So to get through and straight away is a huge achievement.
‘To go there as a seed, in the past years that would have been an additional pressure that I didn’t want, but I will go forward, I got this place. The top 16 players all deserved to be there and I got a place there too.
‘Whoever I draw, the bookmakers can make me second favourite, but I know I’m there for a reason and if anyone underestimates me then it’s more stupid people.’
Wakelin has drawn Matthew Selt in the opener and plays at 1pm on Saturday.
