An exclusive interview with Germany's snooker hotshot Lukas Kleckers
Xiang Wenjian
The 21-year-old Lucas Kleckers has become one of the stars of the 2017 World Cup after vanquishing both world number four Ding Junhui and world number twelve Liang Wenbo.
Lucas Kleckers has been a professional snooker player for little over two months. But the 21-year-old German has become one of the stars of the 2017 World Cup after vanquishing both world number four Ding Junhui and world number twelve Liang Wenbo on Tuesday.
"I had a good day and felt very confident on that day. I didn't make any stupid mistakes, and didn't give them any chances. That's why I could beat them," Kleckers told China Daily in an interview at the tournament venue in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.
Snooker is becoming a popular sport in Germany, especially after the revival of the German Masters in 2011 at the Tempodrom.
However, it was not a big sport in Germany when Kleckers started to play.
"I got to know snooker on TV, and I felt lucky to live in a city [Essen] where there are a few snooker tables, and I started to play there 11 years ago," he said.
The young German first drew attention in 2013 when, at the age of 17, he won the German Championship, the country's most prestigious amateur event, by beating Roman Dietzel 4–2 in the final.
In May, he graduated from Q-School, an amateur snooker competition that serves as a qualifier for the World Snooker Tour, receiving his tour card to allow him to enter professional tournaments for the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons.
"It was a big surprise. I practiced really hard, and finally the hard work paid off and I'm really happy that I got through Q-School," said Kleckers.
In doing so, the young man has become the first German player since Patrick Einsle to get professional status, and plenty of snooker fans in Germany consider him their greatest hope to win world titles.
The rookie German raised hopes in his homeland further at the Riga Masters in June, when he beat world number seven Neil Robertson in just his second match as a professional.
Though Kleckers has shone at the World Cup, his team has little chance of qualifying from a tough group that includes Hong Kong, China, Belgium and Ireland.
"We are in a tough group, and one frame score is always very hard, so many good players," said Kleckers.
But the 21-year-old player maintains a positive attitude, saying that it the World Cup has been "still a good experience for them."
Looking forward, Kleckers is determined to keep a level head on his shoulders.
"I know it's still a very long way and I really need to improve to get the world title. But I just try to focus on every single event, and try not to think about the pressure or something like that."
