Zhou Yuelong is enjoying life and is back at the Crucible in his home town for the first time in six years.
The 27-year-old beat Ishpreet Singh Chadha and Yuan Sijun to secure a trip to the Crucible for the first time since 2019 and play in the famous theatre for only the third time.
It is a surprisingly long wait for a return to sport’s biggest stage for Zhou, given that he has been to three ranking finals since he last made it to the Crucible.
After beating compatriot and friend Yuan in the final qualifying round, he admitted that nerves had regularly got the better of him on Judgement Day.
‘I was so nervous because maybe six years not at the Crucible, I lost many times at Judgement Day. I wanted too much to win,’ said Zhou.
‘Before I wasn’t nervous, but when you lose many times on Judgement Day you think, why? Why do I always lose on Judgement Day?
‘So you just want to prove you can do it one time. I think at the Crucible I’ll be more relaxed, but so nervous at Judgement Day.’
Zhou is especially pleased to be coming through qualifying as he is now living in Sheffield and walks past the Crucible every day.
‘For me fantastic because I’m training in Sheffield,’ he said. ‘Every day from home to academy I pass the Crucible so I wanted to play there. I’m a local player now.’
The world number 32 previously lived in the Steel City, moved to Darlington and has now returned to South Yorkshire, where he is feeling very much at home.
‘First couple of years I lived in Sheffield, I tried to move to a different academy to try to improve,’ he explained. ‘But then the virus came, we were locked down there for three years. It’s so quiet there, no restaurants or Chinese shops, so I feel a little bit lonely so I moved again to Sheffield.’
On whether he is feeling at home now, he said: ‘Yeah, definitely. After snooker you can enjoy the life.’
Zhou has been on the brink of the top 16 before and has been close to winning his first ranking title, but his progress has slowed a little over the last year.
He feels that he is in a good place to climb the rankings again now he has finally come through World Championship qualifying again.
‘I think I’ve been close to last 16. Every year I don’t play well in the World Championship,’ he said. ‘That’s big money, big for the rankings, that’s why I’m always 20-32, if I can play one good performance in the Crucible, my ranking will be good.’
It is a tough test for Zhou on his Crucible return, taking on world number one Judd Trump, starting on Tuesday night.