Hungary's Bulcsu Revesz is embarking on his maiden season on the World Snooker Tour and is the first ever professional from his country. The 17-year-old has enjoyed a glittering career in the junior ranks, having won the WSF Junior Championship and the Under-18 European Championship. Now he is determined to bring his best to the professional stage...
You started your season with 3-1 defeats to Jak Jones and Jordan Brown, as well as a 2-2 draw with Antoni Kowalski at the BetVictor Championship League. How would you assess your first outing as a professional?
“I felt like it was interesting. I was assured of playing three matches, so it was a good way to start. In the first match I wasn’t good and struggled. In the second and the third I was so much more brave. I won the first frame against Jak Jones and played really well. Against Antoni I got a draw and he is a really nice player. My game was so much more positive than in the World Championship. I found this tournament really good. I’m looking forward to the next one."
How pleased are you to become the first professional from your country and what are your goals for the first two seasons on tour?
“In Hungary, if you ask a random person on the street what snooker is, they will 90% not know what it is. Snooker is not well known there at the moment. However, I have always kept my faith that I could achieve this goal of getting on tour. I only spent 42 days practising in England before I turned professional. It is a dream story for me and now I will spend more time in England and work to get better and better.
“After the end of the second year I would like to be in the top 64 and stay on tour. I think that is a realistic goal and plan for me. It will take so much improvement and work, but I can do this. I want to get used to the whole atmosphere and what the professional tour brings. All I can do is work hard and enjoy it and I will do both."
You've said previously that you have struggled with controlling your temper in the past. How have you managed to work on and improve this?
“I have improved so much in the mental side. I realised how much it helps if I can keep my anger inside and keep the faith until the end of the game. I’ve had a little help from a sport psychologist with this to try and keep the right approach at the table. I am sure it is going to benefit me in the future. Sometimes I can get angry away from the table when nobody can see me, but it is important to keep it inside when I am at the table.
“In tennis you can break your racket, in football you can channel your aggression. In snooker you can’t do this. I think the greatest challenge is to keep your cool at the table. Sport can be so frustrating when the other player is ahead. It is the most difficult part of the game. You don’t have to keep your calm in this way in any other sport."
How do you think you will handle the pressure and expectation which comes with being one of the sport's most talented young players?
“I don’t think too much about the pressure. I’m just trying to enjoy the game. I surprised myself with how well I did in junior events. I was quite worried about how I would deal with pressure before winning these events, but I found out that I just enjoy playing these sorts of matches. I really do think that I will deal with the pressure at any moment in my career. If it is a match to stay on tour, a final or even the World Championship final in the future, I think I will handle it."
What is it about snooker that you love and how did you come across the sport?
“I first saw snooker on Eurosport. I remember it was a Shaun Murphy vs Stephen Maguire match that I saw. After watching that I found a club in Hungary where I could play and never looked back. I was eight years old when I started. I found the game so interesting, like the dress code and the silence in the arena. The slow going of the whole game gripped me and I really found it interesting. When I then picked up a cue and started playing I fell in love with snooker. Even at the age of eight or nine I was playing for six hours a day. I couldn’t get tired of snooker.
"I improved so quickly. I was quite lucky, as I found a really good coach called Peter Varga who has been in the game for 30 years. He knows all of the secrets of the game. He really helped me and I have a good connection with him."