Snooker prodigy Stan Moody is making waves at the World Open, having defeated both the Chinese No.2 and a former world champion.
The 18-year-old secured his second victory of the season against world No.10 Zhang Anda in the first round in Yushan on Sunday with impressive breaks of 60, 123, 55, 75 and 68 to win 5-3. He then defeated Scottish star Graeme Dott, the 2006 world champion, 5-2. Next up, he faces Chinese star Xu Si in the third round on Tuesday.
Despite his youth, the Yorkshireman has long been tipped as a future snooker star. He first developed a love of cue sports while on a family holiday in Spain when he tried his hand at pool before taking up snooker and winning a host of youth titles.
By 16, Moody had won the World Junior Championship in Australia and earned a World Snooker Tour card. While that might seem incredibly young, it was all part of the determined youngster’s plan.
Speaking in 2023, as he prepared to join the ranks of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump on the Tour, he said: “I’ve got no GCSEs, nothing. I only went to school because I had to, I never enjoyed one bit of it. I just wanted to be at the club hitting balls, it’s my dream. Working in an office isn’t, it just isn’t my thing.
“When it first happened [secured his Tour card], I couldn’t believe it. But now it’s sunk in, it’s something I’d always planned to do. Back when I was 11 or 12, I always planned to get on this early.”
“I wouldn’t like to get on at 20-21 because the best years of your career are gone then. The experience I’ll gain from getting on so young will be priceless.”
He had already impressed some of the sport’s legends, such as Jimmy White, who hailed him as a “fantastic talent” and a “really serious player.”
In a thrilling moment for the young player, he faced his hero Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Six Reds World Championship in Thailand in 2023. Although O’Sullivan emerged victorious, Moody managed to win a few frames.
“It was a great experience playing on TV against the best person ever to pick a cue up,” he said. “I know it was only six reds and people say it’s not a proper game, but you’ve still got the pot all the balls.
“There were 2,500-3,000 people watching. It was good for me to get used to that environment and the pressure, I loved it. People were coming up to me afterwards asking for autographs and pictures. It’s a reward for doing well.”
Their post-match exchange with O’Sullivan left an impression on the young player, who added: “He said a bit to me after. I can’t remember all of it but it was something along the lines of ‘how you doing?’, ‘good luck on tour’. It was nice of him to say something instead of just walking straight off.”
O’Sullivan subsequently compared Moody to 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy for both his looks and his style at last year’s Welsh Open. Speaking on Eurosport, the Rocket quipped: “He looks like Shaun Murphy, just 25 years younger.
“He plays like Shaun Murphy as well, he stomps round the table, hits the ball really firm. Very confident too.”