World Championship: Crucible debut for Liam Pullen after unwanted ‘big break’ but defeat for Stan Moody
Liam Pullen admits he could not have dreamed about making his Crucible debut after spending a year without playing snooker during the Covid lockdown.
The 20-year-old from York was playing in the junior ranks as a 14-year-old when lockdown saw snooker clubs, along with large parts of the country, close their doors.
Without training facilities, Pullen was forced to pack away his snooker cue and admits it was a ‘horrendous time’ and a setback in his sporting education.
So when the Yorkshireman walks down the famous steps on Tuesday morning at the Halo World Championship for his Crucible debut, it will be an emotional moment.
The world No 86 had to win four qualifying matches over the last fortnight at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport simply to reach the Crucible, and is determined to savour his opening match against Chris Wakelin.
“People forget, I actually had a year off during Covid,” said Pullen.
“When I was like 14-15, there was nowhere to play. I think that affected how fast I could have improved. Technically, I like to think I am 19 now – a year younger.
“During that spell, I would never have dreamed about this. It’s crazy.
“Other people my age were able to practice because they maybe had tables in units or clubs.
“I was on the back foot, didn’t play for a year, didn’t think about playing and hated to watch snooker on television. It just made me annoyed. It was a horrendous time.
“It was mainly just playing X-Box, I didn’t want to look at snooker.
“It would have been nice to just have a normal junior career, I suppose, where you're just, like, constantly playing. It definitely set me back a year.”
His progress since has been impressive. He reached the final of the 2023 WSF Junior Championship in Australia, losing to Halifax’s Stan Moody. Now established on the World Snooker Tour, Pullen reached the quarter-finals of this season’s Xi’an Grand Prix.
Given his hometown, Pullen would love to play at the UK Championship, staged on his doorstep at the city’s Barbican.
But the Crucible is snooker’s ‘theatre of dreams’ and Pullen is relishing playing in front of a Yorkshire crowd.
He said: “The Crucible is the one where everyone wants to play snooker. It's the place to play it, I think. It’s special, if you could only play at one venue, it’s the Crucible. I will cherish the moment.
“I've been there twice.
“I remember the Crucible was very compact, and I am quite a large player, a long player, with a javelin cue. It will be interesting.
“All the people who play there say it’s much closer when you are playing that watching.
“The first match was Shaun Murphy against Yan Bingtao (2017), and then I actually went to the (2018) world final between John Higgins and Mark Williams. I was 12, the last day, I couldn't have probably picked a better final, really.
“It’s funny how the world works and now I could be playing one of those players (at the Crucible). It’s so weird.”
Like Pullen, Moody was making his Crucible debut this year, after coming through the qualifiers.
But the 19-year-old from Halifax lost 10-7 against the 2024 world champion Kyren Wilson on Monday.
It was heartbreak for Moody, who at one point led 7-3, but the world No 2 clawed his way back into the match, winning seven successive frames in the evening session.
It had all started so well for Moody, who was 6-3 in front after the opening session.
From the moment the teenager potted a fine, long red, Moody – to a chorus of cheers ‘Come on Stan’ from the Yorkshire supporters in the crowd – quickly settled.
He led 3-0 against the Masters champion – with breaks of 84 and 91 – before Wilson won two frames back either side of the mid-session interval.
But Moody, upto No 44 in the world rankings, then knocked in his first century at the Crucible, 110, and following up with breaks of 55 and 101.
After taking the opening frame of the evening session to go 7-3 ahead, Moody was punished for several errors as he was given a harsh Crucible lesson in defeat.