Exclusive: Scottish Pool Star Jayson Shaw Battles Back From Storm Nightmare to Chase World Crown

Scottish pool star Jayson Shaw is looking to land the biggest prize of all this week – the World Pool Championship crown in Saudi Arabia.

And the Glaswegian potter would love nothing better than to pocket the $250,000 (£185,000) top prize at the prestigious tournament at the iconic Green Halls in Jeddah.

The seven-time Mosconi winner and current European team winning captain thrives on the biggest occasions – and winning the World title doesn’t come much bigger.

“Every event is pretty big, but it’s the really big tournaments like this that I really get up for it,” revealed Shaw, speaking exclusively to SportsBoom.com. 

“I don’t know what it is, but I think it comes from playing in the Mosconi Cup, I only really get myself up for the big events."

RENEWED MOTIVATION

“For some reason it’s hard to get myself up for some of the small events. You know, the money will be decent, but there’s not really that many people watching and the atmosphere is different in the room."

“For me, it’s nice to have all the eyes on you, especially when there’s a big prize on offer."

“There’s a big title up for grabs, so I think when tournaments like this come around I’m more ready to perform."

“In some of the other event – I’m not saying I’m not up for them – but I sometimes feel flat."

“I’ve always loved the attention and the buzz of the ground, I’ve been like that since I was young and I was playing English 8 Ball."

“I always had a big following because I was playing in teams and then going from that to playing a lot more singles events."

“But I do love the team events more, you get more involved in pool in general. I think we need more of them to be honest, I think it would bring more people into the sport.”

Shaw admitted he was close to pulling out of the tournament after heavy storms decimated his Connecticut home and forced him and his family to evacuate to safety.

Thankfully Shaw, his wife and two kids emerged unscathed from the “nightmare” and found themselves a hotel to take sanctuary until the extreme weather died down.

But that meant the 36-year-old cue ace was unable to practice before the tournament and only make the last minute decision to compete in Saudi Arabia.

He hammered wildcard player Khaled Al-Otaibi 9-1 to kick off his title-challenge in style and is gearing up for his second round match later this week.

'THRIVE' ON BIG OCCASION

“I played pretty solid in my first match,” reflected Shaw.

“There were a couple of small mistakes, but I’m still just testing out the television table and getting used to it, that’s always different to the outside tables."

“But I thrive on the pressure of the big occasion, for me now it’s about winning my next match and then getting into the round of 64 and then go from there."

“I’ve got insurance for my house, but winning good money here would certainly be a big help towards paying to fix some of the damage."

“But I’m just happy to be playing in the tournament, I was so close to pulling out.”

The world number eight ranked player, Shaw is also a two-time world record holder in the discipline of 14.1 straight pool. 

He first broke the record in January 2022, potting 714 balls in a row without committing a foul or missing one. 

Shaw then broke it again in this off-season, racking up 832 balls.