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Disability snooker champion brings back gold

Tom MacDougall
BBC News, Yorkshire
Gary Swift Gary Swift, who uses a wheelchair, dressed in a waistcoat and bow-tie at the World Disability Snooker Championship.Gary Swift
Sheffield disability snooker player Gary Swift was crowned top of his group

A snooker star from Sheffield has claimed the top spot in the first World Disability Snooker Championship.

Gary Swift, who has used a wheelchair since he was 14, represented Great Britain at the contest in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

He secured a 3-1 victory against Thailand's Numpol Thongpusawan in the Group 1 final.

Returning home after 40 hours of travelling, Swift said he was "tired but feeling great".

Gary Swift Gary pointing to the scoreboard for the championship final, showing his 3-1 victory in the best-of-five game.Gary Swift
Swift with his coach Stephen Harrison

There was rivalry between the two finalists, as opponent Thongpusawan had scored a 3-1 win of his own against Swift during the group stages.

Each had then secured 3-0 wins against their opponents in the semi-finals, before meeting again for the title-deciding match, which would last more than six hours.

Thongpusawan initially took the lead by winning the first frame, putting Swift on the back foot.

But he was able to turn the tables, taking the following three frames and sinking the last pink to be crowned champion.

"I had to dig in deep and fight, but I came back well," he said.

"It's every player's dream when they turn professional to win a world championship, and no-one's ever won a world championship from Sheffield."

'Very inspiring'

He said the victory was "more special" because he shared a home with the city's Crucible Theatre, which has hosted the non-disabled Snooker World Championship since 1977.

He also hoped that one day the disability championship could make its way to the UK.

Coach Stephen Harrison, who runs his own disability snooker academy, called Swift's achievement "very inspiring".

"He's such a great player, we've got like 200 members each week, and they're looking up to him - kids in wheelchairs, stuff like that - to see they can achieve so much more."

He added that the pair were campaigning for the reintroduction of disability snooker in the Paralympic Games - it was first introduced in 1960, but dropped after 1988.

"This world championship is a massive movement towards that," he said.

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