Latest Cuestars sponsor hails from Australia
THEY say that fact is stranger than fiction and that you should never meet your heroes. What do THEY know?
An April Fool article on this website last year alluded to Cuestars director John Hunter’s plans for world domination.
He now has Academy members in many European countries as well as some in India and the Middle East. And that’s not to mention Hugh Grant – the latest member of the Cuestars family of sponsors who hails from Brisbane in Australia.
Hugh certainly had no regrets after meeting his hero, four-time world champion John Higgins, in Bangkok in March, 2023.
The 63-year-old said: “I am a massive John Higgins fan. John is the nicest guy you could ever meet – a brilliant guy. The short time I spent with him that morning is one of the best experiences and memories of my life.”
Hugh played snooker when he was a student and into his early 30s while living in Scotland before moving down under in 1994.
But he discovered that snooker is not so popular in Australia and there were limited opportunities to play socially.
“I love snooker,” he said. “It has always been my favourite sport.
“I always promised myself that when I retired I would get a full-sized table in my house and devote a good deal of my retirement to snooker.
“When I retired six years ago, I threw myself back into snooker.”
In addition to playing and practising about 15 hours per week, Hugh also served on the boards of a Brisbane snooker club and the Queensland Billiards and Snooker Association.
He made his highest break of 77 in a competition in Brisbane two years ago.
Explaining why he offered to become a sponsor, Hugh said: “I decided to become a sponsor to express my gratitude for everything that John (Hunter) does for the global snooker community.
“I love the Cuestars programme and I’m keen to promote it widely within my Australian and international networks.
“I deeply admire John’s selfless devotion to developing a structured approach to learning snooker for players of all ages and abilities; and a programme that is very useful for coaches.
“In particular, John’s commitment to developing a programme that attracts young players to the sport is highly commendable – and his achievements in developing the next generation of snooker players are incredible.
“From a personal perspective, over the past six years I have probably experimented with all of the available snooker skills development programmes out there.
“However, I am now using John’s Cuestars Academy programme religiously in my snooker skills development.
“I believe that it represents incredible value for money and it fills the gaps that I have experienced with the various other programmes.”
Picture, from left: Ken Doherty, Hugh Grant, Stan Moody, John Higgins.