A student has told how he challenged snooker No1 Stephen Hendry to a match on the green baize – and won.

Final year print student and journalist for the News and Star newspaper in Carlisle, Mark Hughes, met up with the sporting great hours before his match with fellow professional Ronnie O’Sullivan in the town, and took him on at a game of pool.

And to his surprise he was able to claim victory over the world number one and seven-times world champion.

Mark, (20), said: “Okay, so it was in front of eight people rather than 800 and it was on a 6ft x 3ft pool table in a city centre bookies and not on a competition-size snooker table in a packed venue on live television, but a win is a win!”

Mark’s chance to face up to one of his sporting heroes came during a meet and greet session ahead of Hendry’s Betfred Premier League game at Carlisle’s Sands Centre.

After Mark racked the balls up, Hendry decided to break and the journalist feared a whitewash without even getting a shot.

Winning streak

But Hendry didn’t pot from the break and Mark was then able to sink four yellows in a row before a foul allowed Hendry in, and he in turn managed three of his reds before missing.

Mark said: “I pocketed two more yellows and Hendry, sensing defeat was on the cards, resorted to gamesmanship to try to throw me off course.

“Standing over the pocket he said ‘this is an easy one here’ as I faced up to a long yellow into the corner.

“It didn’t work. I potted and was on the black.”

He added: “The black was stuck against the cushion. I had to double it and missed by miles.

“Stephen went back to the table and, struggling to clear his remaining four reds, decided to try to snooker me.

“I got out, but he cleared up and was on the black.

“It was against the cushion and, despite the fact he earns millions judging angles on a table four times as big as this, he got it woefully wrong.

“It left me with the simplest of tasks to roll the black into the middle for a famous victory… well, I’ll remember it anyway.”

He added: “I didn’t think I had any chance at all and when it was pencilled in on the news list I think everyone expected it to be a story about how he hammered me. But it turned out to be an even better piece.

“He signed my notebook ‘well played from Stephen Hendry’ to prove that I had won.”

Mark has been working for the News and Star since December 2004 after initially going in on work experience. Since then he has worked full-time for the newspaper when not at university and it has even led to a splash in the Sunday Mirror.

Mark said: ìIíd made a contact at the Sunday Mirror in Scotland from working at the News and Star and so when there was a stabbing incident one Saturday morning in the Lake District they called me up and asked if I wanted to go and cover the story.î

Mark was the only journalist who managed to interview a person who was on the train where the victim was attacked. This resulted in a story with a byline in the Scotland Sunday Mirror which was later picked up by the English version of the paper.

Mark added: ìIt will look good on my CV to have a story printed in a national newspaper and it shows how important it is to make good contacts.î

More info
BA (Hons) Journalism
News and Star
Original story on Hold the Front Page

Related news
First year student already a sporting success

Popularity: 1% [?]

No related posts.