In a career which spans 17 years, Daniel Wells finally made his Crucible debut at this year’s World Championship. However, the experience has made him determined to reach greater heights.
The Welshman, who is a three-time ranking event semi-finalist, came through an epic final qualifying round clash with Gary Wilson 10-9.
Wells went on to face Shaun Murphy, who he made three centuries against during his bow at the Theatre of Dreams, but lost out 10-4.
The Neath cueman has had a rollercoaster snooker career, which was in hiatus back in 2021 after he lost his place on tour. During his time away, he started working for his mother’s domestic cleaning business.
Wells regained his professional status in 2023 and made his third ranking semi-final appearance earlier this season at the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix.
We’ve caught up with the 36-year-old to hear about an experience during his time as a cleaner which motivated him to return to the circuit, his debut at the Crucible and a terrifying ordeal when he was caught up in an earthquake during his holiday this summer…
Daniel, thanks for talking to us. First of all, how hard was it to control your emotions during the final session of your match with Gary Wilson at Crucible qualifying?
“He came out like an absolute train. I was 6-2 up and within 40 minutes it was 6-6 and it turned into a dog fight. We’ve had three deciders this season. I don’t know what it is about our styles, but they seem to blend in together. I was a bag of nerves going into the final frame. I lost 10-9 to Barry Hawkins in the final round in my first season as a professional back in 2009. That was disappointing, but I didn’t appreciate at the time how difficult it was going to be to get there. The years went by and it got harder and harder. All of that was on my mind. I’m so glad to get it out of the way now. I was starting to think, am I ever going to play at the Crucible?
“Thankfully I managed to hold myself together in the last frame but I don’t know how. It is probably the most nervous I’ve ever been. It has given me tremendous confidence to know that I can produce under the utmost pressure. I’d say that result was the biggest of my career. I’ve been to ranking semi-finals but that was the biggest. I didn’t expect the pure emotion I would feel at the end. That feeling when I won makes it my best win. I completely lost the plot afterwards. I was just so mentally drained. It is a big achievement to qualify for the Crucible and something I wanted to do, that coupled with how hard he made the evening for me.”
What was the experience like at the Crucible and how tough was it face Shaun Murphy in that form?
“Once I got there I tried to keep myself as level headed as possible. I wanted to win. The feeling of playing out there was probably my best moment as a snooker player though. I settled into the match and was really quite focussed. It is a fantastic place to play. The crowd appreciate the whole thing and it was very nice to play in front of such a good crowd.
“Shaun was just so, so good. He’s played like that in the last three or four times I’ve faced him. It has been a bit of an eye opener. To do what he did to me over the best of 19 frames and be so consistent and relentless, it has made me realise I need to up my standard. The standard I thought was good doesn’t really cut the mustard at that level. In a way I’m really pleased that happened. I got the toughest test possible, played pretty well and came quite a long way short. It showed me that to move up the rankings and compete at that level, no miss snooker is the only way. You can’t afford to make mistakes to win at the top level. Against certain opponents you don’t get as heavily punished, but to achieve something substantial I need to get to that level. He was fantastic and looked so good.
“I enjoyed it. As much as he totally outplayed me, there were a couple of moments I could have made the scoreline different. Although I have taken a lot of confidence from qualifying, I know the work that I need to do and where I need to be now. I’m not getting any younger, I’m 36, but I feel that I am really getting better and I’m excited to see how far I can push that now. I can’t wait to see what I can do over the next few years.”
During your time away from there tour were there any experiences which acted as a motivational catalyst to be where you are now?
“There was one day that I was cleaning down in Ammanford. I was on my own and the house was minging. It was a council house which was about to change hands. It was in really, really bad condition. It wasn’t a nice place to be. A song came on the radio by Dermot Kennedy called Better Days are Coming. I was crying my eyes out. I couldn’t function at that moment. It was a real low point, I will never forget that. That was character building though. I’m not afraid of hard work either. It gave me a fresh perspective on it all.
“I appreciate where I’ve bounced back to. These low points can either make you or break you. I am that type of character that will keep fighting until the end. I’m not content with where I am though. I want to keep pushing forward. I will keep grafting as hard as I can.”
You had a scary moment during your recent holiday. Tell us more about what happened.
“It was a brilliant holiday. We went to Rhodes, but we had an earthquake on the last night. I was petrified. It was 2am and the last evening. My wife woke me and the whole room and the floor was shaking. My initial thought, for some reason, was thinking of a tsunami. We then looked at our phones and there was an update pinging saying “tsunami warning, leave coastal areas immediately”. We were literally right on the beach. I’ve run up to reception and there were loads of other people and the only advice was just to not go on the beach. It was the biggest earthquake in 40 years. We didn’t know what to do. Luckily we were leaving the next morning, nothing happened and we were able to get out. It was 6.2 on the Richter Scale, so a fairly large earthquake. I was maybe overthinking it, but it was a scary experience.”