Sam Craigie was one of the stars of the Championship League over the last week, but he was not impressed by some comments made about his career during the event, which he has called ‘disgusting’ and ‘pathetic’.
The 26-year-old came through a tough and very experienced group featuring Ali Carter, Dominic Dale and Matt Selt, before narrowly missing out on qualification for the tournament’s final group.
Craigie beat Stuart Bingham and whitewashed Harvey Chandler but a defeat to Ronnie O’Sullivan cost him top spot in the second group stage.
It was a thoroughly impressive set of performances from the world number 62, who practices at Kev Ellis’ Levels club in Huddersfield, and he drew plenty of compliments from the television commentators over his cue action, his break-building and his bottle.
Questions were asked as to why such a talented player has not been beyond his current ranking and there were suggestions that Craigie lacks application and commitment away from tournaments.
The Newcastle cueman was angered by those suggestions and has fired back, complaining that accusations of a lack of discipline are entirely unfair.
‘I find it interesting that the players make the mistake of thinking they know who I am and what I’m doing when I’m not playing snooker,’ Craigie told Metro.co.uk.
‘That’s the message I got from watching it back. Even though they haven’t seen us for months because this has been going on, they still think that they know what I’m doing and they haven’t got a clue.
‘It’s the commentators, and everybody’s thinking the same thing. Obviously I’ve got a history of enjoying myself a bit and people like to leap on that. I see it as a weakness because I own space in their mind, I’m at an advantage before we even start playing snooker.
‘Who’s to say I should be higher in the rankings? You can’t just say that, I could say that about anyone, it’s not true because I’m not. People say I’m not because of what they think I’m doing and they haven’t got a clue.
‘It’s incredible, I’ve got two kids at home and everyone thinks I’m out partying, it’s strange. They’re six and two, so they’ve kept me very busy during lockdown, but other people know different apparently.
‘It’s disgusting if you ask me. I’d rather not be complimented than people getting a nasty message across through nice words. It’s pathetic.
‘When people are watching snooker they should be commenting on the game that’s being played, not making assumptions on people’s lifestyles. It makes people who don’t even know who I am think that about me.’
Craigie has developed a bit of a reputation for missing matches, handing his opponent walkovers at the 2016 and 2019 English Opens because he didn’t arrive on time, but he says this had nothing to do with any off-table antics.
‘That’s got something to do with it,’ Sam explained. ‘But whenever I’ve missed a match it’s not been to do with alcohol, I was just sleeping.
‘I was going through a stage where I just couldn’t wake up. It never happens at home, which is the most annoying thing about it, but it happened a few times. Everyone assumes it’s because of certain things, but it’s not.’
Craigie is aiming at reproducing his fine performances from Milton Keynes on a more consistent basis as he feels he can compete with anyone in the world.
‘Hopefully, it’s just consistency that’s my downfall,’ Sam continued. ‘I think I’m just as good as anyone.
‘I wasn’t even at 100% in Milton Keynes and I showed it there. My first group it should have been 3-0 in every game.
‘The second group, Bingham should have been 3-0, Ronnie should have been at least 2-2, then Harvey was 3-0. It should have been an easy two groups but I made it hard for myself.’
O’Sullivan handed Craigie his only defeat of the tournament and the Rocket left a sour taste in Sam’s mouth, and a grim sound in his ears.
The five-time world champion was heard by television viewers loudly sniffing throughout the match, which Craigie feels cleared up suspiciously quickly afterwards.
‘Why did Ronnie seem to have a cold when he played me, then had a miraculous recovery straight after?’ Craigie queried. ‘Embarrassing.
‘It was disgusting, it didn’t bother me but he should of been tested for coronavirus mid-match! Considering my hands are going on the same table he’s touching when he’s “extremely ill.”
‘He is daft.’
Craigie will be back in action at the World Championship qualifiers next month when he will be fighting to keep his place on tour, which he is confident of doing, and hopefully make his Crucible debut.
‘I can’t see myself not doing what I need to do to stay on tour,’ he said. ‘I’ll be playing someone below me in the rankings and I’ll have to win one game to stay in the 64.
‘I’m looking to qualify this season, I’ve never played well in the Worlds, but I fancy it this year.’
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