Snooker professional Ross Muir is enjoying being back on tour after winning back his tour card earlier this year, but the Edinburgh potter could have followed a much different path.
Ross is a huge football fan, supporting Hearts of Midlothian, and was a talented enough goalkeeper to have been scouted by Scottish giants Celtic. Unfortunately, a recurring wrist injury ended the 28-year-old’s hopes of stopping balls, which is why he now focuses on potting them.
“I wanted to be the next Craig Gordan,” Ross told Fen Regis Trophies. “I probably trained as hard at football when I was a kid as I do now at snooker – four or five days a week.
“I trained with my dad, as well as training and playing games with my club. I worked very hard.”
He added: “Unfortunately, or fortunately as it has helped pave the way for snooker as my career, I had a wrist injury when I was a kid and it wasn’t the most pleasant of things.”
From the Pitch to the Table
Though injury would eventually be the reason Ross turned his attention to the snooker table, cue sports had always held an interest for the Scot. After playing football at the weekend, he would then play nine-ball pool with his dad.
“I was enjoying nine-ball,” he said. “I just gradually moved into snooker that way.
“I still love football, but I haven’t played it since kicking a ball as a kid…not even once! I did enjoy that part of my life and it probably has helped to pave the way for snooker.”
Ross was 11 when he first began playing snooker and it wasn’t long before he was entering junior tournaments in Scotland.
“I can remember playing Scott Donaldson, who is a year older than me, and he had been playing for a couple of years at that stage.
“He was very experienced, compared to me, and I can remember playing in my very first tournament in Glasgow and getting to the final of that tournament.
“I just fell in love with snooker. I fell in love with competing very quickly in tournaments.
“That’s when I knew that was something I was going to be doing for as long as I can physically play snooker.”
Sooner after both Ross and the Scottish snooker scene would realise that he was more talented than the average player.
“When I was 13,” Ross says. “I won the junior Pot Black and the Star of The Future tournament at Pontins, which was like the equivalent of the UK Junior Championships.”
Rubbing Shoulders with Snooker Legends
With former world champions such as Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, and Graeme Dott, you don’t need to look very far for Scottish snooker legends. Ross, since he first began competing professionally in 2013 as a teenager, has been fortunate to share the practice table with some of the finest players to hold a cue.
“They were winning World Championships at a time when I first started getting into the game,” said Ross.
“Graeme Dott was the first that I can remember watching winning the World Championship (in 2006).
“I idolised all the Scottish players back then, like John [Higgins], Graeme, Stephen Maguire, Stephen Hendry, and Alan McManus as well. They were all people that I wanted to try and emulate.
“You know, certainly as a kid, it is unbelievable to say that 15 years down the line you’re going to be a professional and practising with these guys.”
Ross’ passion and love for snooker shines through. While he may wonder what could have been had injury not curtailed a fledgling football career, he harbours no regret and has his sights set firmly on being the best snooker player he can possibly be.
By Aaron Gratton
