Trio of pool players cue up to represent England

Rachel Wong, Kieran Malam and Luke Cronin all play pool for their country

Three players from the same pool and snooker club are practising for a summer of international competition.

Luke Cronin and Rachel Wong, of Dishers Club in Crewe, have qualified for the England pool squad and 18-year-old Kieran Malam is the England Junior A Captain.

Club owner Lyndsey Roberts, is seeded number seven in the women’s professional circuit, but stepped down from England as vice captain in 2019.

She's extremely proud of the young players she's supported and hopes they can bring silverware back to the East Cheshire club.

Wong recently qualified for England ladies for the second time since 2016, and thanks the role models she has on the Cheshire Ladies County circuit.

"I've looked up to them and wanted to be on par. Some of them can go toe-to-toe with the guys," she said.

Cronin will represent England's under-23 team for the first time in mid-June, having first been encouraged to play as a toddler.

"I wasn't having any of it at the time. I wasn't interested. Then one random day, when I was about 11 or 12, I just said, 'Dad, do you want a game of pool?'"

'Dad's my practice partner'

Despite being just 18, Malam has played on the international stage for more than a year.

He competed in the World Championships in Morocco last year and the European Championships in February.

The junior captain has played every day since he was 11 and believes he has the prefect practice partner.

"My dad is a former world champ. It still gets brought up nowadays - who's better? He's still better," says Malam.

Malam and Cronin will both take part in the World Championships at The Grand Hotel in Blackpool from 18 to 27 June.