Mark Selby reckons Jack Lisowski is a ‘world champion in the making’ and can hit the standards of Ronnie O’Sullivan, but finds his lack of belief frustrating to see.
The 32-year-old has long been near the summit of snooker, with five appearances at The Masters illustrating his consistency in remaining in the top 16.
However, he is still waiting for his first title having reached six ranking finals and lost all of them, while he has fallen short in six ranking semi-finals as well.
Jackpot has worked with former world champion Peter Ebdon in recent years on the mental side of the game, while he has also enlisted the help of former Seniors world champ Lee Walker for technical coaching, so there is no question that he is working on moving to the next level.
Selby finds it frustrating to see Lisowski not managing to make that jump, though, and has questioned his self-belief and desire to do so.
‘I love Jack to bits, but I speak on behalf of all the players that he is so frustrating,’ Selby told WST. ‘He is so good and it is only a matter of time before he wins a tournament, but you watch him and it is as if he doesn’t want it enough at times.
‘He is such a nice guy, it is as if he doesn’t have that firepower in his belly and he just enjoys being out there. For me he is a world champion in the making.
‘Sometimes his standard is up there with Ronnie, it is unplayable. He is probably one of my favourite players to watch. I think once he wins one then the floodgates will open. At the moment I don’t think he realises how good he is.
‘Deep down, when you speak to him or hear him in interviews it is as if he doesn’t believe he should be there with the top guys. He is a top player. He played great at the Crucible in 2022, beat Neil Robertson and only just lost to John Higgins to miss out on the semi-finals.
‘Who knows, if he won that then he could have been world champion already. All the other players have more belief in him than he has in himself. That is scary because he is so talented.’
Lisowski faces a nervy end to the season as he has dropped out of the world’s top 16 and has not qualified for the upcoming World Open or Tour Championship.
That means he will head to World Championship qualifying next month in a bid to make it to the Crucible for a seventh successive season.
MORE : Ronnie O’Sullivan has ‘arm twisted’ to play Tour Championship as he sets out Crucible preparation
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