MICHAEL HOLT INTERVIEW

As the UK Championships get underway today, and Michael Holt begins his campaign on the opening day against Zak Surety in the Last 128 round in York, I've got a very interesting interview with Michael that was written ahead of last weekends Ruhr Open in Germany. In the interview Holty talks about his career to date and where he honestly feels he is at, his hopes for this years UK Championships and his biggest passion away from the game.

This is exactly what Michael had to say:

First up Mike, how’s your game feeling ahead of the UK Championships this coming week?

Ok. I didn't qualify for Chengdu so had a few weeks off. I also moved clubs so sorted that out. Been back practising a few weeks now so looking forward to getting back on the match table.

In last year’s UK Championships you lost out in a Last 32 decider to Mark Allen, was it disappointing to lose in that fashion having come back from 3-0 and 5-3 down?

It’s always disappointing to lose whatever the score. I think I was a bit unlucky in the decider if I remember? Didn't really get a chance. It happens sometimes, you move on...

It’s Zak Surety first up for you this year Mike, what are your thoughts on that match and how far do you think you can go in this tournament?

I'll treat it like any other match. All I can do is try my hardest on every shot, that’s what I will do. I don't know much about Zak but he's on the main tour so must be able to play. All I can do is concentrate on myself though. As for the tournament as a whole, I believe I’m good enough to win it. I’m obviously and rightly a massive outsider but if you go on a run and your get some momentum you never know...

It’s the second year of the flat draw for the UK Championships, how do you think it worked last year with 4 tables in the main arena and 4 tables in a sports hall back stage in the early stages? Did the format really seem as fair as World Snooker were hoping for?

I was lucky last year and played all my matches in the main arena. Not sure it how it will work out this year. I obviously don't want to be in the sports hall, it’s like a PTC! Not the UK championships, our second biggest event. It proves my argument against going to a flat draw, we haven't the venues to do it properly. Sometimes the theory doesn't match up with the practice, this is a good example.

So far this season your best performance has been a run to the final of the first Asian Tour event, were you happy with that or disappointed not to have gone on and won the tournament?

I'd rather have won it but you can't be too disappointed to losing to Ding, he's brilliant.

The Shanghai Masters has been a good event for you in the last 2 seasons, with a semi-final appearance losing out to Xiao Guodong before making the Last 16 this season before losing out to Mark Selby coming back from 3-0 down to get to a point where you could’ve led 4-3. Do you feel like you should’ve gone on further on those two occasions?

I was gutted to lose both matches. The first one against Xiao broke my heart, genuinely believed it was my time. Felt comfortable for a change and confident I would take my chance if I got it. Against Mark losing that 7th frame was massive obviously. I had a big bounce of a cushion getting out of a snooker which left him a free ball....he cleared up like Mark does. I still may have not won but that turned the tide and he won the next frame to win. I was happy how I got back in the match though, he started flawlessly, I was 3-0 down without getting a shot. Really dug in and played some good stuff to get back in it so there were positives even though at the time they meant nothing.

You’re now at No. 23 in the world and have been an established top 32 player for some time now with a career high ranking of 20. Do you still have high hopes of breaking into the top 16?

I do yeah, my main goal is to win a major event and with the prize money being so top heavy this would probably get me in there. The rankings have been devalued anyway now which is a shame, the top 16 a few years ago was huge but now it’s only important for the masters and the world championships.

Do you think it’s much easier now to climb up the rankings now that we’re on a flat draw in most tournaments on a money ranking system that means one really good tournament for someone around the top 16 like you could propel you into the top 16?

The way the money is structured one run can get you up quickly but at the end of the day whatever system you have the same players will be at the top and the bottom. Whatever system is in place if you win matches you'll be alright. Simple as that.

You’ve won a couple of the minor ranked Players Tour Championship events in the past which puts you right up there amongst the best on that front, but are you still hopeful of winning a full ranking event?

PTC wins are great but I’m under no illusions, they're nowhere near full ranking events. I want a major, it’s my main goal. I’m working as hard as ever to make it happen. Less hope more work. I’ve very rarely played well as a professional. In fact I don't think I could have done any worse as a professional if I had tried. Up to this point my career has been a complete failure, very disappointing. It drives me on to work harder though.

I mentioned there about the PTC events being classed historically as minor ranking events. Do you think the playing field should be levelled and these events simply being classed as full ranking events?

Not really, they aren't. You win multiple matches in one day which means the pressure doesn't really get time to build. It’s over so quick. In a major you could be there for a week, this gives loads of time for you to realise what you might achieve and this can cause players form to dip and they lose. To keep your level up for a week is so much harder than 2 days.

In the past it could be said that you’ve had trouble controlling your emotions on the table (they don’t give you the nickname the Hitman for nothing) but do you feel like you’ve matured now as a snooker player and you can ride on through those tougher times now?

It’s a myth! My nickname was given to me by the compare Alan Hughes when I got to my first venue, it had nothing to do with me punching a table. I obviously have since and people have made the link but it was just coincidence really. I have matured, my temperament or attitude has improved so much. I also believe it’s better than I’ve ever been given credit for. I’ve been in the top 32 for 10 years? Do people think this would be possible if I was constantly collapsing and losing matches I should win? No chance. I have lost matches from in front but so has everyone. I think the problem I've got is because I've never achieved anything so not given people or journalists anything else to talk or write about. I'd like to gamble that my decider win/lose stat is very good? Not sure where I'd find that stat?

There may be a lot less of it now being a snooker player in the modern day, but what things are most important to you away from the game? What are the things that make you happy in life?

Friends and family. They are so important to me, It’s the reason I’ve never left Nottingham. We've had some tough times as a family and we've all helped each other through it.

Having spoken to you privately in the past about weight loss and personal fitness I know that it’s incredibly important to you. How important would you say health and fitness is in the game, should more players focus on their fitness and how much time do you spend working in the gym?

It is. It’s my biggest passion away from Snooker. Diet is so important for health, its seems a no brainer to me but people really are clueless to what’s good and bad to eat. So many people think they're being healthy but aren't. To me as someone who is passionate about it, it seems incredible that people aren't interested to find out what’s healthy and what isn't.  Then they moan when there body starts to fail on them. I think it’s important especially as you get older, some of the young lads get away with it but if they're not careful it will catch up with them. I train 5 days a week, absolutely love it!!!!

Finally Mike, you’re 36 now which seems to be the age where a lot of players are playing their best snooker these days. How many years do you think you have left as a player, what are your hopes for the future and are we yet to see the best of Michael Holt?

As long as my level doesn't drop I’m not going anywhere for the time being. I’m doing a business degree at the moment for when I’m done. At the moment though I’m 100% committed to achieving my goals at snooker. We shall see...

 

I'd like to thank Michael for taking the time out of his preparations to provide all of these interesting views for my blog and I hope you enjoyed reading what he had to say.

 

As the UK Championships get well underway now, you can expect a couple of more interviews to be on the blog in the coming days, as well as my round by round updates from the tournament.