Chris Wakelin wants to be snooker’s new driving force after ditching life on the road for a shot at the big time.

The talented ace has swapped his green Asda van driver’s uniform for the green baize after plucking up the courage to follow his dream.

And last month he got his big break when he turned pro in bizarre circumstances at Qualifying School to earn a place on the World Snooker Tour.

Already leading against Adam Wicheard and close to wrapping up the win, he triumphed when his opponent snapped his cue and surrendered.

“There he was leaning on his cue and it just snapped in his hand,” said the 21-year-old from Rugby.

“He didn’t do anything malicious. It just broke in his hand.

“He just looked at me and said ‘that will do’.

“It was crazy how I didn’t have to go through the pressure of winning the last frame.

“It was just a click of the fingers and then I was a professional. I think that’s the first time that someone has turned professional via a snapped cue!”

While Wakelin’s luck may have been in at Q School, his journey to the top has been far from easy.

He has had to work full-time to support himself financially therefore sacrificing hours of much-needed practice in order to get by.

While his job delivering Asda goods helped pay the bills, it did little for his snooker career and his time at the Attack Snooker Centre in Nuneaton was severely reduced.

A failed attempt at making the grade when he was 17 resulted in a re-think.

He started working full-time and played snooker simply as a hobby.

But last year he decided to give it another go so that his talent didn’t go to waste.

Then just when he was making movements in the sport, the talented young star suffered an all-time low when personal family issues resulted in a severe bout of depression.

It got that bad earlier that he couldn’t even pot a ball and he considered life without the sport completely.

“I was in a real dark place, right up until March this year,” he said.

“I could line up but I just couldn’t pot. I thought I would never play again.

“But thankfully with the help of my friends I managed to turn it around.”

And what a transformation he made.

He progressed to the English Under-21 Open Final – he will be the champion if he beats Hammad Miah today – and built up the confidence to get through Q School.

Wakelin put in extra hours at work to save up enough cash to fund his ambition and it paid dividends.

Already he’s played two professional events – his debut coming against former World Champion Peter Ebdon in the Wuxi Classic Qualifiers.

“I can’t remember walking out into the arena and putting my cue together,” he said when looking back at his nerve-wracking debut.

“It was a surreal feeling. Before the match I was standing with the likes of John Higgins and Barry Hawkins, all top players waiting to go on table.

“I really started to grasp what I had achieved then.

“I’m settled in now and I’m working on my aims for the future.

“I’ve got two years on the tour and the first aim is get enough ranking points to stay here.

“But the minimum is getting through to a ranking event and it would be nice to have a reasonable go at one tournament at least.

“Getting that first win is massive,” he added

Up next on the agenda, after today’s final, is the Pink Ribbon Pro-Am in Gloucester which runs between June 26-30.

Then it’s a trip to Holland for the Rotterdam Open on July 19, but already with no sponsorship deal in place, the costs are adding up.

“I’m having to miss out on tournaments abroad because I simply can’t afford it,” he said.

“I’m relying on sponsors, even small donations. I’m prepared to wear any logo’s on my waistcoat and on my case in return.”

If you can sponsor Chris contact him on: chrisw147@me.com.