Elliot Slessor faces a stern test on his Players Championship debut on Wednesday in the form of world champion Zhao Xintong, but knows what to expect after an epic battle in Sheffield.
The pair met in World Championship qualifying last year, with Slessor giving Zhao as tough a game as anyone on his way to winning the world title.
The Cyclone came through 10-8 to reach the Crucible, but it was a beak-building frenzy, packed with one-visits.
In defeat Slessor made breaks of 126, 114, 113, 92, 76, 75 and 73, while the winner knocked in runs of 134, 127, 103, 83, 72, 72 and 72.
Zhao had won two ranking titles at that point, but was just returning to the big time after his ban from the game and Slessor admits he had doubts over how he could perform over two sessions.
Asked if that was the best he has ever played without winning, he told Metro: ‘Probably, aye. I’ll tell you exactly how I thought during the game. I didn’t know if he had two sessions like that in him at the time. I know he’d won before, but I didn’t think was the finished article.
‘He’d sometimes be sloppy in sessions and I came off at the interval at 6-3 down and he played absolutely brilliant. I said to my grandad: “I fancy catching him tonight. If he plays like that again, I’ll be the first one to clap him off and say every credit. But I think I can catch him.”
‘I got back and actually played well, then he just pulled away at the end. That proved to me of just how good he was. A phenomenal, phenomenal player.’
There was a lot for Zhao still to do after beating Slessor at the English Institute of Sport, but did the Englishman think he may have been beaten by the next world champion?
‘Oh, absolutely,’ said the world number 22. ‘If he played the way he did in them 18 frames against me, the level he was playing at, without shadow of a doubt.
‘I’ve played them all and I’ve never lost so many frames from so many peculiar positions. I think sometimes the worst place you can leave him is with no shot, where he has to take something on, because he’s such a good potter from everywhere.
‘I must have lost four or five frames in that particular match from places where I wanted to put him! He just drops a red in and makes 80 in six minutes, set them up and go again.
‘When you pot as frequently and as well as he does, the right shot for a lot of players isn’t the right shot for him.’
Not only is Zhao’s immense talent make him a unique challenge to face, but so does his pace around the table, which seems to confuse opponents.
‘It’s strange because he walks so slowly, but the frames disappear so quickly. It’s quite weird,’ said Slessor. ‘As soon as you’ve had a drink of water, wiped your hands and dried them, he’s on 60 and you’re ready to set them up again!
‘We were the first match off in the last session. We played 18 frames and there was people getting through winning 10-3. I was nearly home and people are still playing.
‘No disrespect to the players on other tables, but they were making 30s and 40s and missing all over the shop. Our game was one-visits for 18 frames.
‘You’re thinking, If I could have been on any other table in this room on this particular day, I would have got through with a canter. Instead I’m playing a very, very special player.’
Despite witnessing first hand how good Zhao is, the Gateshead cueman is not short of confidence in his own game as he continues his steady rise up the rankings.
‘I fancy my chances against anybody if I play well and play my game,’ he said. ‘If I play well, I feel it takes a very, very special performance to beat us.
‘On the other side of the coin, if I don’t perform well, you can get a hiding off anybody. I think that’s just the game in a nutshell. If you don’t turn up and perform, you’re more than likely going to get beaten no matter what ranking you are.’
‘I know I’ve got the game. I know I can win’
Slessor is in the Players Championship field for the first time, showing his progress as the event only features the top 16 on the one-year ranking list.
The 31-year-old is still hunting down a first ranking final, having been in five semis and just this month in the semis of the non-ranking Championship League.
There is definitely frustration that he hasn’t lifted a trophy yet, but he is comfortable with his work ethic and his ability, it is just about producing his best when it matters.
‘Listen, if I keep playing how I play in practice generally, if I perform on a day-to-day basis, I think I’m a top 16 player,’ he said. ‘In matches, I would say at the minute, not so much. But I know the games there. It’s just performing it more and more often.’
Answering the million dollar question on how to produce his practice game more often on the match table, he said: ‘I think it’s just a win. I think if I win something, the transition would be, potentially, overnight because I believe I can win.
‘I don’t feel like I’d be one of them that would be one and done and go missing. I’d be wanting more out of the game and I know I’ve got the game.
‘I don’t show it often enough, but I know I can win. I’ve been close a few times, obviously not close enough, but you keep trying.
‘All I can do is do the best on my part. I always practice consistently hard and well and try to gain a percent here and a percent there. So all you can do is keep trying to strive to be a better player. If the door opens, it’ll open. It’ll not be not open for the want of trying, that’s for sure.’
Slessor will be knocking on that door again when he takes on Zhao at 7pm on Wednesday in the first round of the Players Championship in Telford.
