Ryan Thomerson’s snooker journey via Melbourne, a blacksmith’s and Neil Robertson’s house

Ryan Thomerson will be a new face on the World Snooker Tour this season after completing an amazing route to professional status that has wound through a costume factory, a blacksmith’s and Neil Robertson’s house.

The 27-year-old won the Asia Pacific Open Snooker Championship in March to book his spot on tour, beating the likes of Andy Lee and Glen Wilkinson in Sydney and turning in possibly the best performance of his life.

‘For me, I think I played the best I’ve played for a while, or every really,’ Thomerson told Metro.co.uk. ‘I got my head down, made three tons and a load of other breaks.

‘My match with Andy [in the quarter-finals] was an awesome match, after six years of trying to get on tour, I knew before I played Andy that was the match that’s going to be the winner and it proved to be that way.’

The Australian was able to compete in the APSBF event and avoid Q School after trying that gruelling event in the past and not enjoying it at all.

‘It’s an absolute nightmare that tournament,’ he said. ‘I’ve been three or four times and only ever had one decent result, really.

‘That tournament, you just don’t know. That’s why it’s such a mix of players who come through it, it’s such a lottery. It’s also very expensive, last year it cost me about £2,500 with entry fee, accommodation, just eating and everything, it’s a tough one. I was happy to not do it this year.’

This is just the latest twist in the Thomerson tale, though, which saw him embark on his snooker journey when his father Paul moved the family to Australia and introduced him to the table.

‘I was born in England and lived here till I was 11,’ said Ryan. ‘My dad played on tour when you could pay £1,000 to do it. He played in a club in London where guys like [Peter] Ebdon used to go and play.

‘I never played, I used to race motorbikes. We moved to Australia in 2006 and dad wasn’t really prepared to buy me a bike again so he took me into a pool hall in Melbourne, Fast Eddies, and I started playing and kicked on after that.

‘I played the Victoria Under-12s in the same year I started playing, when I was 11, and won that. I won the Australian Under-15s and that was when I first met Neil, when I was 14.

‘I started playing more then, my dad had a snooker table in his house and I started playing every day. I skipped school so much, got my uniform on, left but snuck back in, change and go to the snooker hall. At 16, that was the first time I went to the IBSF Under-21s in China then went there for five years till I was 21. I had a good run when I was 19, lost to Hossein [Vafaei] in the quarters.’

Thomerson had to fund his snooker endeavours and he was doing his best to strike a balance between improving, earning some cash and coming over to the UK to accelerate his progression in the game.

‘I was working then as a bar tender and struggling to play full time,’ he explained. ‘A really good family friend has a costume factory, he had a spare room in the factory big enough for a snooker table, so we moved a table in there and I was working for him and in the bar. That’s when I was 20, working two jobs and practicing.

‘At 17, I was coming back and forth from England. Staying with Neil sometimes, I was really close mates with Vinnie Calabrese who used to be on tour. He was living with Neil, I got invited to come, first time I was meant to stay for a week and stayed for four months.

‘I was doing that every year to try and improve my game. 2016 I was working as a blacksmith with another family friend. I was doing that full time and I got to the point of; do I want to play snooker or not?

‘So I stopped working. Six months practice and in 2017 I got runner-up in one tournament, won a South Pacific ranking event, won the Australian Open, won the biggest tournament ever in Australia at the time, the Reventon Masters, $12,500 winner-takes-all against eight of the best Aussie players. Then I ended up coming here and I’ve been here ever since.’

The UK is undoubtedly the place to be to have the best chance of making it on tour, and living with one of the greatest players on the planet cannot hurt your chances either.

Thomerson says he would not be competing at the level he is now without the help of Robertson and of Joe Perry, who has also been a huge influence on his career.

‘I lived with Neil on and off since I was 17,’ Ryan said. ‘This time was almost five years.

‘I first met [Neil’s son] Alexander when he was two, so I’ve known them a long time. I wouldn’t be here at all really if I couldn’t stay with him.

‘We used to practice a lot over here at the club. Joe was there as well and he’s had a massive influence. I used to play with him loads, I now only live five or 10 minutes away from him so he’ll really help.

‘I suppose with Neil it’s similar to Jackson Page with Mark Williams in terms of how close they are. But just being from overseas, I struggled with being away. Being at Neil’s, it’s a home away from home type thing. It was massive.’

The 27-year-old is now out of the Robertson house as he looks to forge his own path, something that he needs to do to fully focus on his own career.

‘I wanted to start doing my own thing a bit,’ he said. ‘In a way it’s hard living with someone like Neil because you can get lost, you lose yourself on the snooker scene.

‘I always want Neil to do well, I go to tournaments with him, in that respect my game didn’t improve the way it should. I wasn’t practicing enough because I was always going to tournaments with him, so no way was I practicing enough.

‘In January I felt it was time to do my own thing with practice, ended up moving out. In a way it’s helped to start doing my own thing but I wouldn’t have ever turned pro or got any results that I’ve had without Neil’s help.’

It is all going well for Thomerson right now, except for a nasty accident that has made preparation for his professional debut difficult and very painful.

Aussies are famed for their barbecue skills, but Thomerson’s let him down in April and he managed to set his foot on fire so badly that he has not word a pair of shoes since.

‘I’ve just started playing the last week because almost six weeks ago I managed to set my foot on fire,’ as Thomerson takes up the story. ‘We had a barbecue for my girlfriend’s birthday, but it was so windy I couldn’t get it started.

‘There was a bit of petrol in the shed so I thought I’d grab a bit of that, put that on and it was fine the first time, perfect. But because it was so windy it still wasn’t getting hot enough. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I got some more.

‘I went to pour it carefully on the coals, but it just went up. The whole thing blew up in my face. I dropped the petrol all over my foot and my foot was on fire. I was running around the garden for about 30 seconds with my leg on fire not knowing what to do.

‘No one was out there, the cannister was pouring out petrol on the grass on fire, black smoke everywhere. I slid along this patio, pulled off my trackies and socks, but pulled off my jocks as well and I was stark naked. I think I was quicker pulling my pants back up than I was getting them off in the first place because my girlfriend’s dad came out and we managed to get it under control.’

Thomerson will be alright and ready to embark on this professional journey later this summer, but he did not emerge unscathed from the fiery chaos.

‘It went from the back of my heel to the start of my big toe, the skin was all blistered,’ he said. ‘I was wearing cotton trackies and socks, they said if I was wearing nylon or the petrol had got anywhere else, I was gone. So I was very lucky.

‘I haven’t worn shoes now still, since then. There’s two spots where they said it went worse than third degree burns. They said I didn’t need a skin graft and it was looking good, but it’s come up like blistering again the last few days. It’s healed well everywhere else, just two spots where it’s not. It wasn’t nice.’

When his foot has healed Thomerson is realistic about his goals, but intends to make an impact on the professional circuit and will bring a thirst for success with him.

‘I’ve set my goal, if I can be between 70 and 80 at the end of the season,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to be silly and say I’ve got to be in the top 64, but that’s where I want to be.

‘I do want to enjoy it but I haven’t gone pro to just play and just enjoy it, be happy if I lose, I want to win.

‘I’m allowing myself the first few tournaments to get my mojo and see how it’s going. But I played the World Cup a few years ago in China, played [Mark] Williams, [Ryan] Day, [Liang] Wenbo, all on the TV table, so I know what to expect. I’m definitely not there just to make up the numbers.’