‘This is the start of the journey’ – Victoria Shi explains the incredible success of her snooker academy and why there is more to come

It has been a remarkable, trophy-laden time for the players of Victoria’s Academy, Sheffield and meeting the driving force behind the set-up, it is easy to see why the place has become littered with champions. 

The season so far has been an unpredictable one, with tournament winners springing out of nowhere and none has been more surprising than 21-year-old Fan Zhengyi when he exploded out of the woodwork to win the European Masters. 

Zhao Xintong, 24, was a more predictable success story, but still, his immense performance to win the  UK Championship was a shock, as was his 9-0 demolition of Yan Bingtao to win the German Masters the following month. 

Yan himself has not pawed any silverware this season, but the 22-year-old announced himself as one of the game’s elite just last year when he won the Masters in seriously impressive fashion; the Tiger mauling the great John Higgins in a memorable final. 

The talented trio are three of the regular faces at Victoria’s Academy, the inconspicuous former office space in Sheffield city centre that is their practice base, but being a part of the academy provides much more than just a handful of tables and a little kitchen. 

Victoria Shi runs the academy, but she also runs the careers and even lives of the young men who knock balls around under her watchful eye. Renting their accommodation to them, sorting their travel, hotels, tournament entries and helping them with any number of things that a teenager arriving in the UK from China might need assistance with. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson join 'strongest Gibraltar Open field ever'

Turkish Masters 2022: Why Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby are not there

Ronnie O'Sullivan happy to miss World Snooker Championship for