Aaron Hill proud of his improvements on the snooker tables around the world

IT'S after been a worldwide few months for Cork snooker player Aaron (The Breeze) Hill.

The Cathedral Road man reached the quarter finals of the Wuhan Open in China and qualified for the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Open. 

He is delighted with his progress on and off the snooker table.

However, the last three years has been a rollercoaster of emotions for the young Cork man.

He has had plenty of highs and lows during that period. 

He hit form at the right time recently by putting in some dazzling displays that has caught the eyes of everyone, fans and players alike, within their sport by beating some of the world's best snooker players that are ranked higher than him. 

Hill is currently ranked number 66 in the world ranking and he has a very busy finish to this year with three upcoming tournaments to come and if he continues with his upwards directory, he should retain his tour card for the next three years as he is now only two points off the cut off point.

When you have to do as much travelling as Aaron has to do as a professional snooker player one must have good sponsorship and he has that in abundance with Tomas Singleton from Singleton's SuperValu in Hollyhill one of his main sponsors and owner Tomas has been by his side since day one with the Northside youngster.

When I spoke to Aaron he was busy preparing in Scotland for the Scottish Open championship, where he had just beat his good friend Ken Doherty 4-1 in a practise match

“I am in a great place at the moment and I’m really enjoying my game,” Arron said.

“I really hit form a few months ago when I beat Joe Perry 5-0 to qualify for the Wuhan Open in China. 

"This was a a great boost for me, because Joe is ranked 30th in the world and I made the highest break of 145 in the qualifiers along the way. 

"When I travelled to China my mindset was not to put myself under any pressure and just enjoy the experience. 

"I played Ben Wollaston in the first round and won 5-1. 

"I was then pitted against Martin O’Donnell in the next round and won again 5-1. 

"My next opponent was He Guogiang and I beat him in a very close match 5-3 to reach the quarter finals. 

"I was buzzing going into this match, however, I had a very narrow loss, losing 5-4 to Wu Yize from China.

“I had no time to feel sorry for myself as I had to prepare for and play a qualifying match against David Lilley for the Northern Ireland Open soon after this game. 

"I continued where I left off in China and beat David 4-1 on my return.

“My first opponent in the Northern Open was World No 33 Zhengyi Fan from China, and I managed to beat him 4-1. 

"In the next round, I played Welsh man Dylan Emery for a place in the last sixteen and I won that match 4-0. 

"Up next for me was a chance to meet World number 13 player, English man Jack Lisowski, however, that’s were my journey ended as I lost out 4-1.

“I will get a chance to play Jack again in the first round of the Scottish Open so I hope that the experience I gained in the last few months will stand to me so I can advance to the latter rounds of the tournament.

“I also will be playing in the Shootout Quickfire tournament in Swansea and that is a tournament I’m really looking forward to as it is such a fun tournament to play in.

“The qualifiers for the UK Open are also on soon and I will be going all out to qualify for that tournament as it is always special to play live on television.

“I have to thank my sponsors Singleton's SuperValu in Hollyhill and the Crucible Snooker Club for their continued financial support. "Especially, Tomas as he is more than just a sponsor to me, as he always stays in touch with me, especially when I am low after a loss, Tomas gets in touch to reassure me that things will get better. 

"So, I’m so delighted to get to the television stages so I can get his name out there because he deserves it so much for the way he looks after me and others,” Aaron added.