New 2022 Interview: Life’s a Ball for Bradley Cowdroy…

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The 20-year-old Cuestars star says he’s got the balance right between competing hard at snooker and enjoying life off the table.

Bradley Cowdroy is one of the popular faces of Cuestars and is aiming to achieve his dreams of becoming a professional snooker player.

He plays on the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards (EPSB) Premier Development Tour to which he achieved runner-up at the weekend to Ryan Davies (see pic below), as well as playing in the Cuestars Under-21s.

Cowdroy said: “My dream is to be introduced and walk out at one of the Triple Crown events, that’d be special. Since the pandemic, I feel like my game’s come on in leaps and bounds. I’ve had a real breakthrough on the national Premier Tour in what is my last season as a junior; I’ve already made 2 semis and a final having never been to a single quarter in the previous 3 years, so the signs are good!

The young star who plays at the Greenbaize Snooker Club in Bournemouth, is also lucky enough to have his own table at home – you may have seen some of his Youtube videos on Cuestars – from his table at home.

He added: “I’ve had some fantastic achievements as a junior, but I don’t think anything could top being chosen as U16 England captain for the Home Internationals in 2018, that was an experience I’ll never forget. Reaching my first Premier Tour final last weekend was very special too, like I said it’d been a real struggle on that tour for a long time but it’s a huge confidence boost to finally prove to myself that I can be successful at that level.”

Cowdroy got into snooker when he was 7 playing on a full-sized table but has been playing since the age of 3!

” I was mesmerized by how it all worked with the different colors and scoring system – I’d always race to work out a player’s new score after each pot before it updated on the screen! We had a small table at home which I got one Christmas, before starting on full-sized tables aged 7.

He is in good hands as he has a regular coach who used to be the coach of Andy Hicks, the Cream of Devon, and in Derek Walker, they together have been working on his break-building.

In Cuestars, Cowdroy cannot be more grateful.

I’ve been a Cuestars player since the age of 8 – I think I’m their longest-serving junior and apparently, I’m near the 100 mark for Cuestars tournaments now! Cuestars has done so much for the likes of myself, Connor, Jamie, and Oliver and I don’t think we’d be in the position we are if it wasn’t for the great work John Hunter has done with the project.” SnookerZone says HEAR HEAR to that.

Cowdroy believes that snooker in the south is beginning to thrive because of the Cuestars events – particularly the Under-21’s.

If you look at the batch of top juniors, you can see a big pool of players with a real chance of getting onto the pro circuit. Our lads down south and the likes of Stan Moody and Liam Pullen up north too, who I think are exceptional talents. To keep supporting these guys and the next generation too, the opportunities need to continue to be there and the structuring of the junior tour needs to be right.

He’s disappointed though that the Regional and Premier Tour may be scrapped at the end of the season.

He adds: “The tiered system is so important in allowing players to progress gradually through the ranks amongst competition of a similar standard, and to lose that for me would be massively detrimental to a lot of people.”

Cowdroy pays tribute to his idol Joe Perry, current Welsh Open CHampion, whom he was lucky enough to have a group training session with some other Cuestars hopefuls at Perry’s home in Cambridge.

“My favourite player is definitely Joe Perry. He’s our Cuestars Ambassador and I’ve been lucky enough to practice with him at his base in Cambridge, too. He makes the game look so easy when he’s in amongst the balls, and he’s a really down-to-earth guy who has a genuine interest in supporting the next generation of players coming through which is all you can ask for. “

Finally, off the table, Cowdroy is a proper sports fanatic.

On and off the table, sport is pretty much my life, whether it’s snooker, football, tennis, darts, running… you name it, I’ll probably be watching or playing it! I’m also a tutor for a company called Explore Learning which helps children with their Maths and English. I love being able to help the kids and have made some great friends there too, so with everything put together I’m in a really positive place at the moment and long may it continue!

We thank Bradley Cowdroy for his time talking to SnookerZone and wish him well in trying to make it as a professional snooker player.