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The World Snooker Tour lost one 'Fearless Fergal' when Mr O'Brien retired last year, but could soon gain another if Fergal Quinn fulfils his goal of making it through Q School. We caught up with the 25-year-old Northern Irishman to look ahead to the challenges he will face in the coming days.
Fergal, how are you feeling about your game before you head to Leicester for Q School?
I'm pretty confident. I know you have to be good tactically at Q School. I played Liam Graham in the World Championship qualifiers and I was 6-2 up but ended up losing 10-9. I put too much pressure on myself towards the end of that match and started thinking negatively. So I want to play with more freedom and stay positive.
You had a fantastic run to the semi-finals of the WSF Championship in Morocco earlier this year, how much did you enjoy that experience?
My dad only convinced me to play in the event at short notice so I went there with low expectations and just enjoyed playing. My break building was good, I made 15 breaks over 50, and also made a lot of important clearances. A couple of years before that I got to the quarter-finals and played Stan Moody, it was 3-3 and in the deciding frame I was 34 points ahead with just the colours left when I potted the yellow and went in-off, and ended up losing 4-3. That was a traumatic defeat. But this year I handled myself well all the way through and just lost a good match against Gao Yang. Hopefully this time in Q School I can keep the same attitude and score heavily.
When did you first play snooker?
I was eight years old, my dad built a snooker room in our house. After that it became a passion of his to help me improve and take me to tournaments.
You grew up in Coalisland which has great snooker heritage as Dennis Taylor also grew up there.
Yes - in fact I saw Dennis at the Crucible recently and we had a good chat, we get on well. It would be great to have another pro player from County Tyrone.
Have you always played snooker full time?
I have had other jobs, mainly connected to horse racing. But snooker has always pulled me back in. After the run in Morocco I knew I had a place in the World Championship qualifiers and then Q School so I decided to give it everything for a few months. It's not really a sport where you can be half-hearted, you have to be 100 per cent focussed on being a snooker player if you want to be successful. So I am trying that now and hopefully I can make it through Q School because that is my ambition. I wouldn't be playing if I didn't think I can get on tour and achieve something in the game.
You have a close friendship with Hossein Vafaei, how did that come about?
Hossein lived in Ireland for a few years and whenever I met him at tournaments we were always laughing together, we have similar personalities. Then we were both based at the Q House academy in Darlington so we shared a flat together. The first time I went with him to a tournament was the Shoot Out in 2022, his grandmother had just passed away and he was going to pull out, but I persuaded him to play and he ended up winning it. It has been great experience to be backstage with him at big events and see that environment. It has also made me realise that you have to live and breathe snooker if you want to be good at it.
How would describe the atmosphere at Q School?
You have to be mentally strong because it is a dog fight. I have had a couple of good runs there before and once you get to the later rounds the pressure is high. Everyone wants those tour cards, particularly the players who have just dropped off. The stakes are high and the rewards are high as well.