Snooker starlet quits school in Wishaw to chase his dream of joining the professional ranks

Brandon Langan was inspired by fellow former St Aidan’s High pupil John Higgins

There’s not many young people who would relish the prospect of giving up their studies to stand at the end of a cue all day

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But, determined Brandon Langan has high hopes of making the grade as a successful professional snooker player.

Brandon reached the Under-21s Scottish Final in May and in doing so secured himself a place to represent Scotland in the Home Internationals in Leeds this August.

Despite only taking up the game in earnest a few years ago, the former St Aidan’s High pupil recently represented Scotland in the Under-18, Under-21 and men’s European Snooker Championship in Bosnia.

The starlet from Waterloo has previously played in Australia, Albania and Malta.

Brandon wouldn’t be the first from his school to make a mark in the world of snooker, and he hopes to follow in the footsteps of former pupil and Wishaw Wizard, John Higgins.

“I heard about John Higgins because he went to my high school and I don’t know why, but I just started to watch snooker on TV one day,” said Brandon. “Then I wanted to go to a club and try it myself and I got a feel for it

“We had a pool table at home but it’s not really the same. The pool table was there for years before I ever played.

“My dad got me a 10ft snooker table after Covid, and I just started playing on that pretty much every day.

“I was sort of lucky that I found snooker because I didn’t really know where I was going, and I always hated school.

“It’s kind of weird, because one day I just sort of randomly picked up a cue and I got addicted to snooker.”

The teenager from Waterloo is very thankful for the support of his parents, Andrea and Aidan, who he managed to convince to let him quit school and concentrate on snooker as a career.

They have backed him and set up the house next door to theirs with a full-size Xing Pai table that belonged to seven-time former snooker world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Aidan and Andrea are grateful to Victoria Shi at Victoria’s Snooker Academy in Sheffield, and World Snooker in Bristol, after managing to procure the table, which was transported to North Lanarkshire and set up by Simon at Barker Billiards.

Brandon continued: “My first tournament was only two-and-a-half years ago but I’ve gained a lot of experience since then. There’s players at the tournaments who started off playing when they were about six years old, so I started a lot later thane some.

“It is hard work and I have a mentor, ex-professional Gary Thomson, who helps me out from Mondays to Fridays from 9.30am to 5.30pm, and I also put in some practice in after that. Saturdays and Sundays are for tournaments.

“It’s not about money for me. I want to be the best I can and win as many matches as possible, hopefully that will be enough to get me on tour and take me to the next stages. Now it’s kind of all or nothing. If I’m not playing snooker, I am watching it.”

Brandon met John Higgins recently during an exhibition match at the Town House in Hamilton, and the pro wished him all the best in his bid to join the pro-ranks. His dream is to one day emulate The Wizard of Wishaw and compete at the World Snooker Championships at The Crucible.

He’s now been set up with an old cue belonging to John and hopes that, along with a lot of hard work, it will help create another snooker sensation success story from Wishaw.

Mrs Sandra Devlin, Depute Head Teacher, St Aidan’s High School, said: “Our full school community would like to congratulate Brandon on his wonderful successes in snooker. To reach the level he is at highlights his outstanding talent but also his focus and determination.

“We wish him every success when he represents Scotland in the Under-21s Home Internationals in Leeds this August and in his future snooker career. He will be missed greatly here at St Aidan’s but we all know that wonderful opportunities and experiences lie ahead for him. Good luck Brandon.”

 

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