Cao Yupeng credits less practice and more football for superb form

03/10/2023 12:41

Cao Yupeng continued his remarkable run of whitewash wins at the English Open on Tuesday and has credited being on the football pitch for his brilliant form on the snooker table.

The 32-year-old has hit an impressive purple patch, winning his last four matches without dropping a frame, most recently beating Dave Gilbert 4-0 in Brentwood on Tuesday morning.

This follows whitewash wins over Ashley Hugill, Mink Nutcharut and Jiang Jun at the International Championship, English Open and Wuhan Open qualifiers respectively, leaving him 19-0 over his last four matches.

After downing Gilbert in Essex Cao told : ‘When I got to 2-0 today I just thought, maybe 4-0 today as well! But then I tried not to think like that, just concentrate on every shot, don’t think about 4-0 and whatever, just concentrate on the game.

‘The last few matches I’ve got a very good feeling and actually I’ve not been practicing really hard, I just want to keep the feeling like this.’

The two-time ranking finalist has traded in practice on the table for playing football, which he believes has helped him look forward to matches more and sharpen up body and mind.

Asked what might have brought about his fine form, he said: ‘Playing more football. Last season I didn’t play very well, I practiced too much and put pressure on myself too much.