Yorkshire duo Stan Moody and Liam Pullen heading for Judgement Day at World Championship
Yorkshire duo Stan Moody and Liam Pullen have come a long way since they did battle in Australia for the junior world championship.
That was in February 2023, when Halifax’s Moody beat York’s Pullen 5-1 in the battle of the teenagers.
On Sunday, the duo were at the English Institute of Sport – swapping Sydney for Sheffield – securing their place in the final qualifying round, ‘Judgement Day’, at the World Championship.
Nineteen-year-old Moody beat Robbie Williams 10-5 in their best-of-19 match.
Then world No 83 Pullen, 20, who had already won two qualifying matches to reach this stage, beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-7.
It means they both stand one match away from a Crucible debut at the World Championship, which starts on Saturday.
Moody has risen up the world rankings this season – he currently stands at world No 44 – after reaching the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open and British Open.
“It's been three years since I beat Liam in Australia to get on tour and turn professional,” Moody told The Yorkshire Post, in association with BestBettingSites.co.uk
“My whole game has improved since then in every aspect, my confidence, my tactical side.
“I've beaten a lot of top players now and I'm going deeper in tournaments and I'm happy with what I'm doing, so yeah, I've come on a lot since then.
“I think I embraced the pressure well. My first season it got to me a bit. It was a bit much getting a lot of stick on social media.
“One, doing what I expected to do. But then second season I turned it round. Won a lot more matches, beat top players, went deeper in tournaments and sort of proved what I can do.
“And that was just through being more relaxed, not putting any pressure on myself, ignoring what other people were saying and just believing in myself more really.”
Against Williams, Moody started and finished the morning session with century breaks.
The teenager opened with 101, followed by breaks of 73 and 54, before securing a 6-3 lead with a 128 clearance.
While Moody is yet to play at the Crucible, the Yorkshireman has visited the iconic Sheffield theatre.
“I've been a couple of times, it's smaller than I imagined,” he said. “Yeah, it's just a completely different atmosphere than any other tournament. Longer matches over a few days.
“Because the place isn't huge, it adds a bit more tension because the crowd's closer. It's a tight venue, so yeah, it's a great place.”
And while playing at the Crucible is special for any player, it holds that little bit extra for Yorkshire players to compete in their own back yard.
That’s why Moody was delighted when news broke last month that the World Championship would remain at a revamped Crucible until at least 2045.
“It’s amazing news, I was dreading it going to Saudi Arabia!” Moody said.
“No crowd. Maybe the money would’ve been a bit better, but I just think the Crucible is the place to be for the World Championship, so I’m very glad it’s staying and hopefully I’ll get there soon.”
Pullen – who now trains in Walsall – came from 4-3 down against Thailand’s Un-Nooh, winning the last two frames of the morning session to take a 5-4 lead into last night’s resumption.
Un-Nooh, the World Open champion, opened with breaks of 51, 50, 80 and 68.
But Pullen responded with breaks of 55, 65 and 72 in the last frame of the morning.
Leeds’ Oliver Lines stands two wins away from a Crucible spot – after beating Mark Lloyd 10-2 – when he plays Ben Woollaston on Monday morning.
But Lines’ father Peter missed out on a Crucible return, the 56-year-old going down to former finalist Matthew Stevens 10-8.
York’s Ashley Hugill lost 10-7 to Julien Leclercq while Rotherham’s Ashley Carty fell 10-3 to Jiang Jun.
China’s Chang Bingyu posted a 147 break against Luca Brecel in qualifying to pocket a £147,000 bonus for scoring two maximums in snooker's four majors this season.