Chris Totten came through Q School last week to regain his professional status following a five year hiatus, which nearly saw him give up the sport after taking up a job working in a DHL delivery warehouse.
The Scot first became a professional in 2017 at the age of just 18, when he won the European Amateur Championship. His first spell on the World Snooker Tour would last only two years. After that he looked set to drift away from the sport.
Totten started working long days, combining jobs with DHL and his stepdad’s snooker retail business, Premium Cues. It was a hectic working schedule and it made Totten put his career on the professional circuit in perspective.
He explained: “It was crazy working in the warehouse. It was split shift. I would work from 7am until 10am. I’d finish that in Glasgow, drive through to Edinburgh and do a bit of work with the cue business. Then I’d drive back to Glasgow and start again at DHL from 3:30pm until 7pm. I did that for two years. The toll it took on me was massive. I wasn’t really moving forward with anything at that time.
“I was working in a warehouse at DHL for just over two years. I still entered Q School over that time, but realistically it was all I played in. There wasn’t much practising going on. It did seem as if being a professional snooker player was getting further and further away and wasn’t going to happen.
“I quit the warehouse a week before Q School last year and started my current job working full time with Premium Cues. The agreement was that I go full time in that job and get back to practising every day, going to Q Tour, European events and Q School. Ever since then my snooker has taken a massive trend in the right direction.”
After a year of rededicating himself to his craft on the baize, Totten performed brilliantly at this year’s Q School. However, he suffered heartbreak in event one, when he was denied in a deciding frame in the final round against Allan Taylor, losing 4-3.
Despite finding the loss a hard one to take, the Glaswegian picked himself immediately up off the canvas and came through in the second event. He defeated Lewis Ullah 4-2 to secure a fresh two-year tour card.
“I’ve never been someone to cry in the venue. When Allan beat me, I walked out of the curtain and the only thing I was thinking was that had to hold it together until I got back to my flat. I didn’t want to let anyone see it. When I got back to the flat, I let all of the emotion out. After I did that, about 15 minutes later, I thought to myself that I had a very good week. My record at Q School has always made me a good draw, to turn that around and get some good results was big. I thought if I did that again then I should be there or thereabouts. Even Allan said to me after the game that if I did that again I could get through. I went back to the venue that day and got practising. There was no time to sulk."
Chris Totten
Former European Amateur Champion
Totten added: “It was a strange feeling after I came through the second event. The first time I got on tour it was all new and euphoric. I couldn’t believe I had done it. This time it was more of a job done feeling. Don’t get me wrong, I was so relieved as I couldn’t pot a ball by the end of the last match. I had a couple of pals and my girlfriend there watching. As soon as I gave her a hug I burst out in tears in the arena. It took so much to actually get there. The first time felt easy. The second time, physically, I was done. To drag through the last couple of days was what meant the most.”
Totten now believes he is far better equipped to deal with being a snooker professional. Looking back at his first run on circuit, he admits that there was possibly a naivety of youth to his approach. This time he is also making use of living near the facility where Stephen Maguire, Anthony McGill and John Higgins practice and hopes to put in the hours with them.
“I’ve been on the tour before and I know how hard it is. I wasn’t aware of anything in life when first I got on. I’d just turned 18 and me and my mates were going out all of the time. We had a good time doing it, but I was still just a wee guy. Once you start getting jobs and finding out about the big bad world, you have a different perspective on things. A lot of things are different now. I will go about it a very different way,” said the now 25-year-old Totten.
“I’ve always got on with Ants, Stephen and John. I’ve not actually played John at the unit, but he gave me a few texts at the weekend after getting on, they all did. It is priceless in there. Everyone needs someone to beat them up and get them to the next level. To have three players of that quality in the same room. What more do you want? It is 15 minutes from my house. As long as they have me I will be there as much as they want. You would be silly not to.
“In my first stint I played Judd Trump twice in the space of four days. Rabbit in the headlights doesn’t come close to describing what I was. Now I look and realistically who cares? If that game comes about Judd is a heavy favourite, but if you play well then anything can happen. When I was 18 it was a case of get me out of here. The older you get and the more experience you get you realise there are bigger and more important things in the world. I’m going to enjoy it.”