The first thing tiler Neil Jones bought with his £2.4m prize was a pool table, on which he honed his skills
A tiler whose first purchase after winning £2.4m on the national lottery was a pool table is about to experience his “proudest moment” as he prepares to represent his country at the European Pool Championships in Malta.
With more free time after his lottery win allowed him to retire, and the onset of Covid meaning he was able to hone his skills at home, Jones rose through the ranks to become a regular county player, before his first England trial back in 2021. He said: “My dad was so supportive of me. He was so proud. When he was in hospital, I used to tell him the county results every month and he’d say: ‘You really want this don’t you? It will come.’ And it did – it was really emotional.
“I picked a cue up, had a knock, and then I came back home and measured up our dining room so I could buy a decent pool table. “When lockdown happened, I was in a local singles league and obviously everyone was locked down, but I could still keep practising, so my game never dropped.Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters“When we went back to pick the singles league up, I was ringing everyone up straight away – ‘Do you want to play a match?’ – because I knew I’d had the practice.
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