2009/2010 Masters Qualifiers – Another Rory Wins

2009/2010 Masters Qualifiers – Another Rory Wins

Following the success of Malaysia’s very own Rory (i.e. Thor Chuan Leong) in winning his first Malaysia Snooker Championship, Rory McLeod won his first professional title by beating Andrew Higginson 6-1 in the final of the Masters qualifying event at Pontin’s, Prestatyn and booked a place at snooker’s most prestigious invitation tournament.

The 38-year-old from Wellingborough, whose parents are Jamaican, will make his Masters debut at Wembley Arena in January against either Mark King or Mark Williams. World No 39 McLeod became the first black player to compete at the Crucible (World Professional Snooker Championship) early this year, and he is now set to mark an equivalent milestone at Wembley.

He has won five matches this week, culminating in a comfortable victory over Higginson, who seemed overcome by tension with so much at stake and managed a top break of just 29. “It’s been a long time coming. I’ve won loads of pro-am events but this one is more prestigious and it’s great to be able to take home a trophy,” said father-of-three McLeod, who coaches the Qatar national team. “I wanted to win this all week, I just had to keep calm. I’ve done the job now so I’m happy.

“The Masters is such a big tournament, I went to Wembley to see Paul Hunter win it in 2001 and it was a great atmosphere. Only the big boys play there and after the Crucible it’s the next venue you want to get to.” Asked if he considers himself an inspiration to black people aiming to succeed in snooker, McLeod added; “I’ve shown that you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it. There will be a lot of people watching me and hopefully they will give snooker a go.”

The Masters runs from January 10 to 17 and will see Ronnie O’Sullivan trying to defend his title against the likes of John Higgins, Stephen Hendry and Neil Robertson.

And that’s not where the similarities between the 2 Rory’s end. Besides being successful recently, both Rory’s are using Original Omin Cues.