Tragedy keeps snooker in perspective for Sanderson Lam as he returns to tour with new mindset

Sanderson Lam battled his way through Q School last week, but after experiencing far worse than the gruelling tournament, he is keeping the game firmly in perspective.

Lam is back on tour for a second time after impressively coming through Event Two in Sheffield, when things had looked perilous at least a couple of times.

He bounced back from 3-1 down to Kurt Maflin in the last 16 to win 4-3, before finding himself behind in the final frame of the final round against Steven Hallworth, only to make a break of 60 to win the match.

The Yorkshireman has developed a calmness under pressure, controlling his emotions and alleviating pressure form himself.

‘I knew I was cueing well, hitting the ball really good, but it’s just controlling your thoughts, especially in Q School because it’s so hard,’ Lam told Metro.co.uk.

‘Even in the first event, I lost to Soheil [Vahedi] and I didn’t think I’d played that bad and lost 4-1. I was really down, but just said to myself, “I’ve done nothing wrong, don’t be harsh on yourself and crack on.” Then it just clicked in the second event. I played well, relaxed a bit more.’

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The immense sadness of a personal tragedy has actually helped Lam keep his emotions under control, having dealt with the death of one of his best friends, Jake Nicholson, nearly a year ago.

Jake tragically died at just 28 years old due to cancer, and the talented player’s death hit many people on the snooker circuit really hard.

Lam was hurt as much as anyone, but it has unexpectedly helped his game as he now accepts that snooker