GUEST BLOG: Sam Craigie

Ahead of a week of important qualifiers in Preston for the Indian Open, European Masters and World Open tournaments, we've caught up with current world number 76 Sam Craigie, as he offers his thoughts on how things went last season, the start of the season in Riga as well as looking ahead to the weeks ahead.


Things started off for Craigie in Preston with qualifiers for the Riga Masters and China Championship and while he made it through to Latvia, he just fell short of the mark for China.

"I was delighted to win my first match as I came from behind against Soheil. I also made a good clearance in the decider which always feels good. I was disappointed after losing to Fergal as I started to feel in control, but I didn't really get a chance in the last 2 frames. Overall my safety let me down in both games so I have been working hard on that.

Soheil seemed very dangerous and fearless which will win him matches but will also lose him matches, no doubt he'll keep improving with that approach." 

Proof of the dangerous Soheil Vahedi, as Craigie describes, was shown as he took home the bronze medal in the recent World Games. However, as the season began there is a certain rustiness to remove after nearly two months without a competitive match.

"I started well in my first match, but when the pressure hit then you realise your not quite match sharp. I was just happy to scrape over the line in my first match to settle the nerves."

Onto Riga Craigie went and his Last 64 opponent was Jamie Jones where he enjoyed a 4-3 success before losing out 4-2 to Mark Davis. 

"I enjoyed Riga. I was obviously happy to beat Jamie from 3-1 down, but he struggled at the end of the match so I didn't really feel confident in my game going into the next match against Mark. I thought the venue was great as a whole, the tables weren't great but it seems there's no answer for that."

Last season certainly showed some promise for Craigie but with a few tight loses in the big money events, the Englishman (to use a Golfing term) feels as though he has left a couple of shots out on the course. 

"Last season could of been a lot more successful than it was, unfortunately a few things went against me at crucial times. I always believe there's lots of things to work on, which could possibly be my down fall, we'll see."

With the hard work very much in progress he will be looking to keep improving all the time, especially as he is still very much a young man at 23. Given his current ranking though Craigie is keeping his goals for this year very simple. 

"I don't really know what to expect this season, but my goal is just to remain on tour. If I reach the top 64 I'll be delighted, if I regain another 2 year card (via the one-year money list) I'll still be happy."

Onto the upcoming qualifiers, and one that Craigie will be looking forward to is the World Open having qualified last year before beating Marco Fu in the Last 64 at the venue. 

"I'd love to qualify for the World Open again and have another shot over there, it will be a tall order as I play Judd Trump in the qualifiers, who I believe will dominate the game in years to come. I can only try my best and see what happens." 

A draw against the home favourite means that Sam will not be in Preston on Thursday or Friday for European Masters qualifying. 

"I'm also looking forward to the European Masters where I'll play Luca Brecel in Belgium, another great player.

We've had a few good games in the past, it should be a good experience playing him in front of his home crowd."

So, with that bit of extra time away from the match table, Craigie opens the door on his perfect day at home. 

"My perfect day off would be, an early game of golf, a few drinks, go out for a nice meal, then a good film at night."


It looks like we have another keen Golfer amongst the professional snooker ranks, maybe in the future it would be fun to see a joint Golf and Snooker challenge. In the much nearer future though are the Preston qualifiers, where Sam Craigie will face Ben Woollaston on Tuesday August 1 in Indian Open qualifying, and Judd Trump on Monday August 7 in World Open qualifying. Following that will be a trip to Germany at the end of the month for the Paul Hunter Classic where Craigie already has a walkover into the Last 64.


Don't forget to keep an eye on the blog this week as I will be in Preston from Tuesday to Friday for the Indian Open and European Masters qualifiers producing day by day insights on all the snooker on show as well as doing a couple of LIVE BLOGS on some of the non-streamed matches. You will also be able to follow my updates on Twitter @CueActionBlog