Ashley Carty is one of the rookies on tour this season after earning his tour card in the final event of Q School this summer and was someone I picked straight out as a player to watch.
Now, after a steady start to the season, he steps up to the big time in his first major as a professional and his second appearance at the UK Championship overall hoping for a run that could kick his season up a gear.
With a first UK Championship as a pro comes a lot of new experiences and the great buzz of playing in the main arena at the York Barbican and Carty cannot wait to get underway on Wednesday night.
"I’m really excited as it is such a prestigious event and the first major BBC event of this season, I don’t have many UK Championship memories overall, apart from my appearance there a few years ago as an amateur", Carty exclaimed.
His first round opponent at the Barbican is David Gilbert, the world number 19 who has climbed back up to that mark after a start to the season that has him sixth on this season's money list and he comes to York after a quarter-final in Belfast.
"Gilbert is a great player, his rankings don't lie and he narrowly lost in the final in China (at the start of the season) which must have given him huge confidence. I know I’ll have to be at the top of my game to beat him, but I know if I play to the best of my ability I’m capable of the win".
As he's already mentioned, Carty does have one experience of playing in the main arena at the York Barbican, when he took on Barry Hawkins in the last 128 of this event as an amateur top-up player back in 2014.
"I lost 6-1 but it was a much closer game than the score line suggests, it was a great experience playing in the main room in the Barbican and it will hold me in good stead for Wednesday night".
Being a Yorkshire based player, Carty is one of many players who will not be far from home this week and he maybe able to use the recent success of other locals like David Grace (semi-finalist in 2015), Oliver Lines (last 16 in 2016) or Peter Lines (knocked out defending champion Neil Robertson in 2016) to inspire a big run.
"Yes definitely it’s only about a hour away for me so that will have it’s benefits of the reduced amount of travelling, which sometimes can take a lot out of you".
The other benefit of having so many players from the same area is that Carty is also never short of a practice partner.
"I have been up to the Northern Snooker Centre quite a few times to practice with Peter and Oliver Lines and also Sanderson Lam".
This season so far, Carty has had some tough defeats, most recently in deciders to Graeme Dott and Mark King in the last 128 of the International Championships and the English Open, each providing a lesson about life on tour.
"I have learnt that on the tour you have to be really critical when you get a chance otherwise with the quality of the tour you will get punished. I probably just need to be a bit more consistent and score heavily more often when I'm in which I am working on".
His best finish to date was a run to the last 32 of the Riga Masters, with an impressive victory against Anthony McGill which has given Carty plenty of belief.
"Against McGill I played a really good match and didn’t hardly put a foot wrong, that’s what you have to do to beat the top players. It just proves that I can beat the top players, and that is definitely the highlight of my season so far".
Earning a tour card via Q School is a unique experience, given the pressure that is on every single player in the latter stages of the events, so it takes a lot of bottle to come through and that is something Carty displayed in May.
"The whole experience of Q School is very stressful and very nerve wracking as there is a huge amount in your career at stake and especially in a shorter format over two weeks of the year it is really tough to come through it all".
The experience is may be a stressful one but the rewards are so great for getting over the line and for many players it takes a while to sink in and provides lifelong memories.
"To be honest it was all a bit of a blur. I was that focused in my matches that I don’t remember a lot apart from the last two matches where I beat a Chinese pro from last season (Wang Yuchen), and an Indian player who was at Q School for the first time , where I knew I had an advantage because I’ve lost twice previously in the last round of Q School and I didn’t want to go through that defeat again as it is heartbreaking. It took a few weeks to sink in but the season started only about a month after so I didn’t have too much time to enjoy it".
Having had the near misses, it must be tough for a player to block that out when they get close again, with the record of Jamie Clarke providing a prime example of that, but for Carty it made him more determined to succeed.
"As I previously said to lose in the last game to turn pro it is heartbreaking especially more as you get a little older. The previous defeats made me more motivated and focused to get the job done this time around".
Thanks to a near miss in the 2014 Q School, Carty was able to play in the 2014/2015 season as an amateur top-up, gaining valuable experience and having some success, reaching the last 32 in both the German Masters and the Welsh Open.
"I played in near enough every event that season which was a great experience, I beat Robert Milkins in the German qualifiers which was my best win to date at the time, then to beat Michael Holt and Alfie Burden in the Welsh, it definitely gave me some great confidence in myself and gave me valuable experience which I can use now that I’m on the tour".
Previously, the opportunities for amateurs to play had been criticised, but this season's introduction of the Challenge Tour is the first step to changing that.
"The Challenge Tour is definitely a great idea. Giving amateur players 10 events over the season against the other top amateurs will only improve the amateur game".
One thing that is mentioned quite often is the rate at which young Chinese players are coming through compared to young English players, and Carty has had his say on why that is.
"The Chinese younger players get a lot of government funding and top coaching - that’s the difference. The English lads don’t get any government funding or much national support and there are a lot of snooker clubs shutting down in England over the last few years".
At age 23 though, Carty is a young English player who has plenty of time on his side to potentially develop into a great player in the future, but for now he is keeping his goals fairly small and simple as he aims to climb up the ranking list.
"I just want to try and win as many games as I can and take every game as it comes, especially in the first round matches as you get no ranking points for losing first round games, I have had three last 32 appearances in my career so far including one this season so to go one better to get to a last 16 this season would be a great achievement. If I can go further than that, that would be amazing", Carty concluded.
As he says, the only way to creep up the ranking list is to start by winning first round matches, to ensure getting points on the board. A win over David Gilbert in the first round of the UK Championship on Wednesday 28 November at 7.30pm would be a huge boost to that goal and I would like to wish him all the best for his campaign in York.
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