Joe Johnson's snooker passion undimmed at 71 years old: 'I practice hard, I love it'

22/09/2023 22:00

Nearly 20 years after his professional career ended, and coming up to 40 since his Crucible masterpiece, Joe Johnson is still working hard at his game and loving the challenge as much as ever.

The 71-year-old will forever be an iconic figure in snooker thanks to his World Championship win in 1986 having never previously won a match at the Crucible.

The biggest tournament in the sport proved to be his only ranking title, and while he will not be changing that record in his eighth decade, he is still competing.

The Yorkshireman will be playing at The 900 from 25 September, the one-frame event played under a shot-clock which he had a crack at in its first edition last year and thoroughly enjoyed.

‘I played alright actually,’ Johnson told of his first efforts in The 900. ‘I made a great clearance to win the first match so I was overjoyed really.

‘It suits me down to the ground, those 20 seconds [on the shot clock]. That was one of my failings when I was on the tour, people used to slow me down and it used to get to me abit. You can’t do that in this, you’ve got to get on with it and that suits me.’

When suggested to Johnson that his trademark long-potting skills were still very much on display, he said they should be, given the amount of work he still puts in on the table.

‘I practice it hard,’ he said. ‘I practice every day and I practice long-potting every day. It’s not as good as it used to be, but it’s alright.