Jack Lisowski can win 10 ranking titles and make the top three in the world rankings, believes Anthony Hamilton, who feels any criticism Jackpot receives is entirely unfair.
The 31-year-old had a fairly quiet season last time round although it ended with his best run at the World Championship to date, memorably beating Neil Robertson 13-12 in the second round, before losing to John Higgins by the same scoreline in the quarter-finals.
It appeared to be something of a coming-of-age for Lisowski who has long been regarded as one of the most talented players in the sport, without having the silverware to show it.
He has made six ranking finals without winning any of them, but Hamilton feels it is just a matter of time until that changes, as he might finally run into someone who has not been number one in the world.
What’s he been to, six finals? Three Trump, two Robertson, one Selby? Cheers! Thanks a lot! And he’s played well in two or three of them, took them close,’ Hamilton told Metro.co.uk.
‘Until he gets a non-genius in the final he might well keep losing them. Certain players have won two or three rankings tournaments and not had to play a top four player in any of them.
‘Until he gets a legitimate chance where he’s about equal favourite then we won’t know if he’s twitched yet or not. He’s doing alright, trust me, a lot of players would want to be doing that bad.’
Lisowski has enlisted the help of Peter Ebdon to help him fulfil his potential, with the former world champ helping him on areas of his game he struggles with.
Hamilton and Ebdon played each other as professionals for for well over 20 years and the former reckons the Force will be a good influence on Jackpot.
‘Why not? Probably the perfect guy to work with him. He doesn’t need anybody to show him how to play,’ said the Sheriff.
‘He just needs someone to maybe talk about mindset and also a bit of shot selection here and there when it comes to the tactical side. That’s all he needs.
‘He’s already got a very good mindset, in my opinion, Jack. It just gets highlighted when you’re at the top of the game if it’s just two per cent worse than John Higgins, or someone.’
Lisowski does come in for criticism, saying in the past that his family even watch his games with the volume off so they do not have to listen to the commentators.
He told the Mirror: ‘My family when they are watching me on TV they mute it and put music on. And when I have listened to it as well I do get a hard time.
‘The style I play is risky, but that has got me to where I am. I am given a hard time when I play certain shots.’
Hamilton thinks the criticism Lisowski gets is unfair and he can’t really see why some pundits seem to target him more than other players.
‘He gets a lot of stick, Jack does, and none of it is warranted, for me,’ said Hamilton. ‘The geezer’s doing really well. He’s doing it a bit more organically than maybe someone like [Zhao] Xintong, but he’ll end up winning five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 tournaments!
‘Then everyone will forget about the slaughtering they gave him, but he shouldn’t ever be getting slaughtered. The geezer is great for snooker, I think.
‘He’s winning loads of matches and winning loads of dough, he’s having a nightmare isn’t he?
‘It’s weird, it’s like a personal vendetta against him. I get the hump with TV people about it. It’s only because he’s that good, but it’s no reason to be having a go at him.
‘Sometimes a Williams or a Ronnie could play worse than Jack does and no one will say a dickie bird.’
The Sheriff of Pottingham admits that Lisowski has not yet mastered the ability to prosper against opponents who are not suited to his style of play, but he expects it to come and when it does, he expects the rest of the tour to be in trouble.
‘If he was a golfer he’d already have five or six tournaments under his belt by now because of the way the sport works. Your own ball, no one else gets involved,’ said Anthony.
‘But snooker’s not that sort of sport. He can be the best player at tournaments, come up against a geezer who doesn’t suit you and all of a sudden you can be derailed. But he’ll learn how to win those matches when people are upsetting his rhythm and when he’s not flying off his head.
‘When he does that, watch out, because he’ll be in the top two or three in the world, I think.’