Snooker star Chris Wakelin says he has lost weight and quit smoking in a bid to drive up his fitness levels ahead of the new season.
Wakelin will meet world champion Zhao Xintong on Wednesday in the Shanghai Masters – just months after the pair met in the World Championship quarter-finals.
The world number 16 enjoyed his best season of his professional career having reached one major final and a semi-final.
And he was very impressive on the biggest stage of them all – getting to the quarter-finals at the Crucible beating Neil Robertson and Mark Allen along the way. But lost out to eventual winner Zhao.
Recently Wakelin revealed he had belief he was going to be snooker world champion during his run at the World Championship. But pointed to things off the table that let him down.
One of those areas was fitness which Wakelin has been addressing over the summer. He said losing to Zhao was down to being “super fatigued”.
He told the World Snooker Tour: “I’ve made a lot of positive changes in my life over the last few months. I said after the World Championship I would get fitter and I’ve upped my mileage a lot, dropped nearly a stone in weight and stopped smoking as well.
“The reasons why I lost in the World Championship were nothing to do with on the table. It was the fitness side and that is something I’m working on.
“Zhao was super beatable in that match. It was probably the only match in the World Championship where he was beatable. I was just super fatigued. It catches up with you at some point in the tournament and it happened to be quarter finals for me.”
“I want to spoil the party”
The 33-year-old will meet Zhao again this Wednesday in the Shanghai Masters second round. All eyes will be on Zhao in what will be his first high profile match since being China’s first ever world champion.
But Wakelin wants to spoil what is sure to feel like a party occasion.
He added: “He’s the first person to do it from China. It is incredible what he has achieved, but I won’t be going out there and bowing down to him and let him have the show.
“It is my job to put an end to the World Championship party. He has a lot of challenges ahead as World Champion and a lot of pressure.”
The Shanghai Masters is one of snooker’s top invitational events featuring the world’s top 16 players. Live coverage in the UK is on TNT Sports and Discovery Plus.
Main image: Chris Wakelin courtesy of WPBSA
