The World Team Snooker and Six-Reds Championship, which took place at Pyramisa Sharm El-Sheikh, concluded its events, with Welsh player Darren Morgan winning the six-reds men’s division.
Daily News Egypt sat down for an interview with the champion, who has won the world title in the sport several times.
Can you describe your sports career for our readers?
In 1987, I won the IBSF World Amateur Snooker Championship. Afterwards, I started my professional career, and then I retired in 2006. A year later in 2007, I started playing in the masters’ events for players over 40 years.
What victories did you acheive in the masters’ championships?
I won the IBSF World Masters Championship three times, in 2007, 2009, and 2011. In 2012, I won the World Seniors Professional Championship.
I also won the 2014 IBSF World Snooker Championship teams’ division, celebrated in Sharm El-Sheikh. We defeated Thailand in the final of the championship. My partner at that time was Welsh player Elfed Evans.
Why did you choose to play snooker?
When I was younger, my father used to play pool on a smaller table. He took me to the place where he used to play and saw that I had talent, so I was put on a snooker table. Since then, I fell in love with the game. This is how I started to play snooker.
What challenges did you meet during your sports career?
There have always been challenges, including the death of my mother, which had a massive affect on me. Six months later, my father died. He was the driving force for me, and that hugely affected my career.
I carried on for about five or six years before I retired as he was my driving force and that driving force was gone.
When I retired, I honestly believed that was it and that I would not play snooker anymore.
I then started to play in the masters’ events. It has been about ten years. I am travelling the world and playing for my country, Wales, which I am very proud to do. I had never thought I would be able to do that.
I have been very successful playing in the masters’ events. I won around 16 to 18 international championships, which is a lot of wins.
I can see that your wife and brother came with you to Sharm El-Sheikh. Given a series of recent unfortunate events, including the Russian aeroplane crash, were you not afraid to come to Egypt with your family?
I played in this championship’s edition in 2014, which was also held in Sharm El-Sheikh, and also played in its 2015 edition, which took place in Hurghada.
I love Egypt. I have travelled all around the world for thirty years and Egypt is my favourite place.
My wife was afraid, so I told her: if we change the way we do things then terrorists have won, and we cannot let them win.
This year in Sharm El-Sheikh, we felt perfectly safe, and we enjoyed our stay.
