IGOR IS BRAZIL NUTS ABOUT CRUCIBLE SPOT
BRAZIL’S Igor Figueiredo wants to light up the Crucible with his ‘samba snooker’.
The 43-year-old from Rio de Janeiro stands one qualifying win away from being the first player from South America to qualify for the Betfred World Championship.
Figueiredo (above) has made huge sacrifices chasing his dream, relocating from one of the world’s greatest cities to Darlington – and leaving behind his beloved wife and three children.
But after failing to win a World Championship qualifier for five years, now only Walsall’s Mark Joyce (inset) stands in his way tomorrow.
He said: “Snooker is so popular in Brazil, though obviously football is the religion back home. A lot of people watch my matches online.
“Many of the famous Brazil football players just love it. Basically, to relax they play cards and also snooker!
“I know Neymar and Romario are huge fans and a lot of players have tables in their houses.
“If I could be the first player from South America to make the Crucible, it would be very big for snooker in Brazil.
“I have made many, many sacrifices for chances like this.
“I have not seen my beautiful wife and three children since Christmas, and probably won’t see them again until next Christmas. Because of Covid and the situation in Brazil right now, with a big quarantine, it is much harder to travel.
“But, at the moment, they are all healthy.
“Sometimes, you find yourself crying alone with the depression from the snooker life and the sacrifices. I am practising 10 hours a day.
“It is food, sleep, shower, practice, and that’s it. Nothing more.” Figueiredo owes his place in the final qualifying round to two huge slices of luck against regular practice partner Thepchaiya Un-Nooh from Thailand.
Fluked reds in each of the last two frames when trailing 5-4 eased his path to victory, almost certainly saving his place on tour and a seasonbest payday of £15,000 and counting.
He added: “They were two very big flukes. There are good words and bad words to describe that sort of luck in Portuguese!
“But a good word is ‘Sorte’ – very lucky!”