Sam Baird from Halberton first picked up a snooker cue to play on a six foot table he had for his fifth birthday progressing to a full size table at the age of six. The way in which he held his cue was far from text book due to his lack of height in comparison to a full size snooker table. This did not seem to matter much as he quickly scampered around the table sending balls rapidly towards the pockets. Tired of beating his mum & dad he moved on to play in local clubs where many a comment was made about his unusual style and in some peoples view "he would never amount to much in the game with a style like that!" His father sought the advice of a local snooker coach who suggested he be left alone to learn how to pot and things would sort themselves out as he grew taller, how true that was to be!....from those early days Sam progressed steadily, winning tournaments and trophies at every level in the Tiverton & Exeter leagues, at county level, regional level even when competing against some of the best amateurs in the UK at national tournaments. Aged 18 and with his growing reputation at amateur level, Sam decided to set himself three years in which to win a place in the top 96 professional elite. The first year he won his first UK U21 event at Pontins World Snooker Centre, Wales and also finished in the top 10 of the Pro-ticket amateur rankings, qualifying for the Play-off tournament. This also led to Sam being selected to play for the England senior team at the Home Internationals. The second year he ended the season top of the overall rankings in the UK Businessland U21 series and finished in the top 10 of the amateur rankings once more, securing his England selection for the second year. This season sees him having the same success in the U21's and Pro ticket rankings qualifying again for the Play-off tournament. Having consistantly achieved at this level he began to believe he had a slim chance of wining the tournament. Sam’s first opponent was Jeff Cundy, a tough competitor that he had struggled to beat on previous occasions. With a new found believe in his ability he made good early progress wining the match 5-1. Second up was the gifted Adam Wicheard who he comfortably beat 5-2. His remaining matches were all-together different. Sean Bullock and Jack Lisowski the later recipient of the 2009/10 Paul Hunter Scholarship both led before Sam fought back reeling off vital frames to win both matches 5-3 and 5-4 respectively. In the final he was met by David Craggs a recent English Amateur Championship finalist and placed 4 placings above him in the rankings. Sam started poorly in the final and soon found himself 1-5 down with just five frames remaining. His natural survival instincts then took over producing some of the raw talent that he is renowned for to claw back and level at 5-5. In the final frame Sam built a modest lead only to miss a difficult red down the rail. Craggs took advantage of the miss and recovered to need a black off the spot to win the match. Somehow he missed it and left Sam to pot black and bring to an end a most dramatic match and take the much prized professional spot on the main tour for 2009/10. Sam now has the problem of finding sponsorship towards his expenses in order to compete on the professional circuit.

Spokesperson for the West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation Roger Cole said "What Sam has achieved, largely of his own back, is immense. Not only for himself but for every aspiring youngster here in the South West. Many of them already look-up to Sam and will now believe that with hard work they too can possibly make it into the professional elite. He has shown a raw talent that with careful guidance and sufficient sponsorship who knows how far he can go". well done Sam!