BEING selfish without being arrogant will be the key to making his dream of breaking into the pro circuit a reality, in the opinion of Hawkeridge cue star Ben Harrison.

A richly successful season has propelled the Hawkeridge 19-year-old to being one of the country’s most promising amateurs.

But as he begins his next assault on the pro ranks, Harrison admits that he’s already living like a pro.

The youngster spends six hours a day practising at the Players Snooker Club in Westbury, sinking frame after frame as he strives for potting perfection.

“It’s like I’m living the pro lifestyle without being a pro,” he said.

“I’ll come to the club at 12, do two or three hours, go back for some lunch, come back for two or three more hours, go to the gym and then go see my girlfriend.

“I think it’s important to have a stable relationship and my mum also helps me out a lot because I don’t have the time to work – I’m just relying on what I make through playing.

“My friends do come down to have a bit of a laugh while I’m playing but sometimes they get bored of picking up balls.

“You’ve got to enjoy practice, otherwise you’ll get sick of the game.”

Harrison is a regular at the Players Tour Championship events and also made the southern final of the English Amateur Championships.

He also took an ambitious shot at the pro ranks in May by entering the prestigious Q School series but wasn’t one of the lucky 12 players to clinch their dream.

But Harrison’s career may have taken another sharp turn for the better in recent weeks after he signed a five-year deal with Adam Quigley’s Pocket Promotions, which will help pay his entry fees for future competitions.

“It’s really like a professional deal because when they sponsor amateurs, they don’t really get a lot out of it but he (Quigley) said that a lot of people were talking about me and I was like ‘are they?’,” said Harrison, whose latest sponsor is blog website Snooker Island.

“He said that Steve (Lee, Trowbridge pro) speaks very highly of you, which is a thing in itself when it’s someone like that, and he’s someone who’s always helped me since I was 15.

“I didn’t really have to think about it and I just said there and then that I’d do it.

“It’s a bit surreal at the moment and until I start travelling with him and Steve, it won’t kick in.”

Harrison sweeps around the table with unwavering concentration but at the same time, it takes him only a few seconds to line up each perfectly-weighted shot.

The youngster is midway through explaining the ins and outs of his ambitions when he pauses and realises that he’s on a sizeable break – minutes later he finishes sinking a 147, his 12th ever against an opponent.

This season is all about business.

“(Going pro) is something to strive for – for the last couple of years I’ve been doing well and enjoying it at the same time but this year I’ve got to say ‘right, this is it, I’m doing it now’,” he added.

“Last year, I was the number one amateur before the European PTCs but I didn’t have the financial backing to go – this year I’ll be able to.

“I like playing attacking snooker and I think it’s the way the game should be played – you’ve got to play your other game, obviously, but when I get the chance to, I love going for it.

“I think the way to explain it is that you’ve got to be selfish without being arrogant and that means just making sure you do what you’ve set out to do.”