CHALK IN THE PARK
I starred on Big Break as a kid and worked as a taxi driver, now I’m one of the top seeds at World Snooker Championship
The star spent time balancing his cabby job and his snooker career
SOMETIMES wonderkids don't live up to their potential.
That isn't the case for snooker sensation Gary Wilson who went from impressing on 90s TV show Big Break to breaking through as one of the best snooker players in the world.
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The 38-year-old featured on snooker game show Junior Big Break as a kid and showed that he certainly had some talent even in his younger days.
And that potential has since been realised with the Tyneside Terror currently ranked 10th in the world and seeding in the same position for this year's World Snooker Championship.
Wilson has lifted three ranking titles since his pro career began and he has been on good form ahead of this year's clashes at the Crucible.
The Englishman conquered Wales when he lifted the Ray Reardon trophy and won the Welsh Open in February after beating Martin O'Donnell 9-4 in the final.
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And he had a stellar tournament as a whole after he potted a maximum break during his semi-final against John Higgins - his fifth of his pro career.
Wilson reckons his three appearances on Junior Big Break put him in good stead for a future at the top.
He recalled his early days in the limelight when speaking to the and claimed it was his third attempt at the show that helped him learn a valuable lesson for his future career.
He said: "The third time I was on was a bit of a disappointment really. I felt really nervous. Maybe because I was getting a bit older and was putting more expectation on myself.
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"It's only Big Break - it's nothing important. But as a kid, you're starting to see yourself improve. Then you realise it's TV and you can impress people, show people what you can do.
"I probably had too much of that the third time I was on and collapsed a bit really.
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"That's when you learn how to deal with pressure. I've learned from a young age to deal with that and it's helped in my junior career to start winning tournaments left, right, and centre when I was 13, 14. That's what you've got to do."
But it wasn't a smooth ride from popping up on national TV straight to winning ranking titles.
Wilson actually bounced around taking up a number of jobs before he was able to play Snooker professionally.
The Wallsend-born potter worked in a frozen food factory doing the 6am to 2pm shift before turning to life as a taxi driver later on in his journey to the top.
In fact Wilson even held his cabby job during the first part of his career and had to seek assurances that he would be able to get back behind the wheel if things didn't work out.
Speaking to the , he said: "For the first three quarters of my first season back, I was still taxi driving.
"But I was getting closer and closer to the top 64 [in the world]. At the end of February 2014 I said to Blue Line [the taxi company]: ‘I feel I’m doing well enough to go full time with the snooker.
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"'But if things don’t go according to plan would my job still be here?’ They said it would but, thankfully, I’ve not had to go back.”
Now Wilson can focus completely on his career at the table, but that won't include going any further in the World Championship after he was knocked out in the first round by qualifier Stuart Bingham in a 10-5 match.
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