Joe O’Connor is patiently but firmly knocking on the door to become a ranking event winner, and he expects to win plenty when that door swings open.
The 29-year-old has now been to three ranking finals after reaching the showpiece of the Championship League already this season, but has fallen short in all three.
There is no need to panic and a trio of final runs shows that he is competing with the best in the world, but he is aware of the suggestion that he is struggling when the lights are brightest.
The Leicester man is an immensely calm presence, though, and is not concerned about dealing with finals, expecting to win multiple titles in the years to come.
‘I know it’s coming,’ O’Connor told Metro. ‘People have mentioned it to me before about getting into finals and I can’t win them, and that sort of thing, but it really doesn’t bother me.
‘I want to win, obviously, and I know that I’ve not played great in finals, but it’s been nothing to do with the occasion, I’ve loved all of them.
‘I think in all of them I’ve had a slightly bad start and I think I think that’s been the difference in every final. It can’t keep starting badly, I don’t start every much bad, so it’s just keep knocking on the door, keep getting to as many finals as possible.
‘I’m going to win one and when I win one, a lot more will follow.’
O’Connor is enjoying a fantastic start to the season, winning 11 of the 12 matches he has played, with defeat to Stephen Maguire in the Championship League final his only loss.
He heads to the Saudi Arabia Masters to start his campaign on Sunday as something of a dark horse to go deep in the big money event.
There has not been any revolution in his game, just dedication and steady progress, illustrated by sitting at a career-high world ranking of 28.
‘It’s my best ever start to the season, I don’t really start that well usually, so it’s nice to hit the ground running,’ he said. ‘Practice has been good, solid. I mainly do solo and I’ve got a nice routine going.
‘Confidence just builds more and more the better you do, the more matches you win and I know I’m playing well. I’m playing solid. I don’t think I played amazing in the Championship League, it was just steady, solid, never really played bad.’
O’Connor may be focussing on solo practice, but has had time to play world number 23 Dave Gilbert at his club this summer, knocking in a 154 in the process.
He is also continuing his dedication to combat sport away from thetable, surely putting in as much physical training as any snooker player.
‘I’m up to four boxing sessions a week now, one Thai boxing and two jiu-jitsu sessions,’ he said. ‘I box and do jiu-jitsu Tuesday morning, Thai box Wednesday morning, box Thursday morning, box and jiu-jitsu, Friday morning, box Sunday morning.’
O’Connor will be hoping to KO a few opponents in Jeddah in the coming days having beaten 11 into submission already this season as all the dedication on and off the table is coming together and he continues to make an assault on the world’s top 16.
‘It’s all the background work, the fiddling about and the trying to get the practice right and the things that everyone else doesn’t see,’ he said. ‘They’re starting to fall into place and now I feel like that I’m in a position where the only way is up.’
O’Connor takes on Wang Yuchen in the Saudi Arabia Masters on Sunday August 10 at 7.30pm UK time.
