Deeney on ball in pool showpiece

TROY DEENEY is hoping to make a splash in the world of pool when he graces the tables at next month’s UK Open Pool Championship.

The former Premier League star (above) is the surprise wildcard entrant in the tournament, which is part of the World Nineball Tour and goes from May 7-12 at the Telford International Centre.

The former Watford captain will be live on Sky Sports as he brings his cue skills to the tables, where victory would see the 35-year-old bank £24,000 from the overall £160,000 prize pot.

Since his departure from Forest Green Rovers in January in his first venture into football management, Deeney has worked as a pundit on Sky as well as TALKSPORT.

Asked about his venture into pool, he said: “With my transition out of football, you just try to look at other sports to be enticed by and pool has been one of those things I thought is sick and it’s great to have the opportunity to even have a go at it.”

But Deeney said he was not the only player in the Watford dressing room with impressive pool skills during his 11 years at the club.

“Craig Cathcart and Ben Foster (above) were the two best I played against and everybody else was on the same level,” he said.

“But it’s completely different when you’ve got lads trying to put you off and throwing food at you when you’re playing.”

Deeney says lessons he learned as a top-flight footballer were serving him well on the pool tables.

“The repetition of pool and the angles and the degrees is kind of like shooting in football,” he said. “You can’t just go up and blast everything because it’s not going to work, so you need a bit more feel and more understanding and go from there.”