Stan Moody discharged himself from hospital to book his place at the Crucible (Image: Getty)
A snooker player has qualified for the World Championship just hours after leaving hospital following a bout of tonsillitis. British teenager Stan Moody defied the odds to book his place in the first round with victory over Chinese rival Jiang Jun on Tuesday. He secured a nail-biting 10-9 victory, producing a break of 104 in the final frame to secure his spot at the Crucible.
It came just hours after Moody was on an intravenous drip in hospital after coming down with illness and tonsillitis. He was unable to speak, eat or drink and doctors asked him to pull out of qualifying so that he could receive further treatment. However, he opted to discharge himself to chase his Crucible dream and it proved to be an inspired decision.
“I was in hospital yesterday,” said Moody. “They said: ‘We know you’re going to say no, but we want you to stay in’. But I said: ‘No, I have a match to play tomorrow’, so it was never really in question.
“I’ve been given a load of antibiotics so I’m on the mend. I couldn’t talk yesterday or eat or drink, so I’ve come a long way. They said if it gets worse, come back.
“I’m normally good under pressure but in that last frame I’ve never felt pressure so much in my life, I’m so happy.”
Moody, who hails from Halifax, will become the first British teenager to make his Crucible debut since Judd Trump in 2007.
He won’t be the only World Championship rookie from Yorkshire, with Liam Pullen securing a 10-8 triumph over Noppon Saengkham to join Moody on snooker’s biggest stage.
Pullen, 20, had earlier been on course for a maximum 147 but missed on the black after potting 14 reds, leaving him with a break of 105.
Had he succeeded, he would have earned £147,000 for making two maximums across the major events in the same season.
Moody secured a dramatic 10-9 victory over Chinese rival Jiang Jun (Image: Getty)
Pullen, who had to win four matches to qualify for the Crucible showpiece, said: “It is a bit of a shame about the max. I’m very proud I’m still in the tournament and I’m going to go to the Crucible and try my best.”
Elsewhere, former world champion Stuart Bingham failed to qualify as he suffered a 10-7 defeat at the hands of two-time runner-up Matthew Stevens.
Bingham, who secured Crucible glory in 2017, is currently 17th in the world rankings, meaning he narrowly missed out on automatic qualification and was instead forced to go through two preliminary rounds.
However, he was unable to beat Stevens, who reached the 2000 and 2005 finals and will return to the World Championship for the first time since 2022.
“I can still play a little bit, which I proved today and I’m really happy,” reflected Stevens. “It’s nice to be back, I’m nearly 50 and I don’t play as much as I used to.
“I was relaxed and Stuart didn’t play at his best, otherwise he would’ve beaten me.”
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