Hong Kong snooker star Marco Fu earns first win in eight months to qualify for Riga Masters in Latvia
Cue king heads to tournament later this month after beating Elliot Slessor to put a year of eye problems behind him
Marco Fu Ka-chun won his first match in eight months after suffering eye problems for almost a year.
The Hong Kong snooker ace is in a happy mood following his 4-1 victory over Elliot Slessor of England at Kaspersky Riga Masters qualifying in Preston, tweeting “First match of the season, first win of the season, first win after my eye operation eight months ago, not a bad day in office”.
The three-time ranking event winner missed several months of last season’s campaign after he underwent laser eye treatment for retinal degeneration in December.
Although he did make a brief return at the World Championship in April, Fu fell at the first hurdle to qualifier Lyu Haotian, of China. His ranking also dropped as he moved out of the top 10 to world number 18 at the end of season.
Fu lost the opening frame against Slessor in the best-of-seven match, but from there he didn’t look back. He swept up four frames on the bounce, making breaks of 77 and 59 along the way.
Before that, Fu will also take part in the 2018 World Open qualifiers, also at Preston where he will meet Chris Totten of Scotland, the 19 year-old who earned his place on the world tour by clinching the 2017 European Championship.
The 40-year-old first discovered his problems when playing in England in September last year after the season began. He said he saw almost 200 small black spots in his left eye when he looked up to the sky one day.
After returning to Hong Kong, Fu was referred to a specialist who discovered two problems in his left eye, the main eye Fu used when playing snooker, and suggested surgery.
