Our Man in Jersey

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Aaron Canavan was not until recently a household snooker name but his recent black Ball finish against Dennis Taylor in the World Seniors Championship in Scunthorpe, has catapulted him to the top of the Seniors tree, having never played a professional match before.Now number one in the Seniors seedings, he could be described as the cat that got the Jersey cream. A classic car salesman by day and a snooker player by night, Aaron has shown that hard work pays off and has been instrumental in putting Jersey on the map with an event in Jersey now in the offing on the new calendar. This 43 year old is an inspiration to anyone who thinks they will achieve their snooker dream and has encapsulated the World Seniors tagline of “Dare to Dream”.

One of the qualities that I like about Canavan is that he is not starstruck when he plays other big names in the industry. He just picks up his cue and gets on with it. This mindset obviously works because it is now producing results and his win against Dennis Taylor meant he walked away with a trophy with only his name now on it and a cheque for £10,000.Not bad for a few days work if you can it! Aaron beat the elite of snooker to win his prize and used his belief that he would win to achieve that goal of the holy grail of silverware. Canavan is a champion because he digs deep in a match and uses his mental reserves to inflict a convincing win on his opponent. Not bad for someone who started playing, aged 7 and had to dramatically put the cue away due to family circumstances and bereavement, only picking up a cue again, aged  26. As was proven when Dennis was bitterly disappointed to lose to the Jersey man after practicing hard and wanting to add another trophy to his expanding cabinet.

With this classic win, came the chance to play at the Crucible and I was lucky enough to be there to witness this man play. With the withdrawal of John Parrott due to illness, Aaron was pitched against my good friend Joe Johnson and despite winning a frame, he was never able to get going, losing 2-1 but did produce glimpses of skill in the match. However this event was a massive learning curve for Canavan and definitely puts him in good stead for future events in this season. I have been watching snooker for quite a few years and know talent when I see it and this player has bundles of it, in fact he could any player in this year’s Seniors tour, a run for their money. The man from Jersey has come good and expect a few more trophies to land on his mantlepiece in the near future.
https://youtu.be/8gh97C-hJBA

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