Steven Hallworth has battled hard to regain his status as a professional snooker player.
Lincoln’s only professional cueist won back his World Snooker Tour card, ending a spell of three years away from the sport’s top table.
“It was relief after a few seasons of being off the tour you kind of forget. Mixing it on the amateur circuit you can get wrapped up in that way of playing and that lifestyle,” Hallworth said. “So, to finally get back on the tour, where I think I belong. I am playing good enough to certainly compete and hopefully do some damage.”
It has been a long journey for the Skellingthorpe born player after falling off the professional circuit for a second time back in 2022.
He said: “The thing with this game in particular is that you have so many dark days. Pretty much every tournament that you play in, if you don’t win it and come home with the trophy, every player is coming home disappointed.
“That is probably the toughest thing to get over. It hardens you as a sportsman and an individual as well, to try and come over that adversity to try and deal with the setbacks.”
Hallworth beat another former professional, Mark Joyce, to re-establish his status winning 10-5 in a tournament final in Turkey this March.
“The whole season is built up to those big events, and it’s very cutthroat because if you don’t get through then you have got to do another season on the amateur circuit. And, that is where you can start to lose a little bit of faith, and you start to doubt yourself,” he said.
The 29-year-old has been boosted along the way by positive feedback from players at the very top of the game. Two-time Triple Crown winner Mark Allen praised Hallworth when the pair played against each other met in the latter stages of the 2023 Snooker Shootout.
He said: “As an individual sportsman, it is very hard for me to believe those comments. I hear it quite a lot from some of the top players, but you’ve got to believe it yourself.
“That’s probably one of my downfalls, I have never believed in myself… in those big moments you have got to back yourself.
“If you’re not 100% upstairs, then you’re going to really struggle because it is a lonely sport. The things that are going on in my life away from the game are all great, which is definitely helping me on the table.”
The winner of snooker’s oldest event, the English Amateur Championship, has said moving to the Lincoln Snooker Club has been instrumental to his recent success.
Hallworth shifted to the city-centre club after the roof of his former private training facility at RAF Waddington collapsed due to a storm.
“It’s given me a platform to be able to play and not really have to worry about everything. And, just being in a club environment has helped because my table previously was in a private room and it was just me on my own,” Hallworth said.
He added: “Here, there are people to chat to and they’ll come and watch me practice. That in itself adds a little bit of pressure, which sounds daft, but I want to perform even for the people in here.”
Phil Cross owns the Lincoln club, and said: “It’s been great even since he first came because everyone can see his dedication and admire his skills. He is an inspiration for local players and youngsters.”
Hallworth has taken to commentary over recent times too, appearing on Eurosport and ITV alongside greats of the game like Jimmy White. The Lincoln lad believes this has had a positive impact on his game and set the platform to regain his tour card, watching more snooker and being around the best of the best on a regular basis.
“I’d love to continue commentating, and I will try. Obviously, the snooker takes priority now, it has to. I want to be a player not a commentator.
Regaining professional status, which he first held as an 18-year-old, alters Hallworth’s career hugely.
“It changes a lot now. It gives me the availability to play in every tournament, and I am guaranteed to play in every ranking event,” he said. “I can do a lot more travelling and see the world.”
But, the biggest thing for Hallworth is the fact that he now has a ranking.
“Off the tour you are unranked, whereas now I have a foothold on the snooker tour and hopefully I can continue to get those good results and climb those rankings,” he added.
While Hallworth was keen not to label any targets for his return to the professional tour, instead focusing on steady growth and improvement, he did admit to one goal: reaching the showpiece World Championships.
“I had a little taste of it a few years ago, I lost in the last round to quality for the Crucible. The contract is quickly running out for the Crucible in Sheffield, it’s all a bit up in the air, so it would be a dream come true to be walking down those steps.
“It is the one venue that every snooker player wants to play at, and if I can do it that would be great.”
Hallworth will have a chance before he has even got his foot back on the pro tour at the start of the next season, with a wildcard spot in the qualifying for this April’s event.
Though, despite regaining his standing as a professional sportsman, this is only the beginning for Hallworth.
He said: “It is easier to get onto the tour than it is to stay on the tour, so that now is certainly my goal, to try and stay there.”