Neil Jones, a lottery winner from Stoke-on-Trent, is preparing to represent England at the European Pool Championships, following his acquisition of a pool table after winning £2.4m on the lottery just before Christmas in 2010. Mr. Jones rose through the ranks after buying the table and taking advantage of the free time he had after his lottery win. He has spent “thousands of hours” practicing at home and, with the help of the lockdown, he was able to keep practicing when others were barred from pubs and pool halls.
Mr. Jones was chosen to represent England in a Home Nations tournament earlier this year and will now fly to Malta in November to captain the England B1 team. He said representing his country would be his “proudest moment.” He added that “Winning the lottery allowed me to put those hours in. If I didn’t win, I wouldn’t have been able to buy the table; I wouldn’t have had the time – I’d still be on my hands and knees tiling.”
Mr. Jones and his partner Julie agreed to start a “new life” following their lottery win, and for him, that included pool, after they and friends went to a local hall as part of celebrations. Therefore, it was then that he picked up a cue, had a knock, came back home, and measured up their dining room so he could buy a decent pool table. He said that if it wasn’t for his National Lottery win, he wouldn’t be captaining his national team today.
Speaking about his life-changing lottery win, Mr. Jones mentioned that he did not have that much money left in the world when he won, and now he’s captaining his country. He expressed how happy and eager he was to fly out to Malta and lead his team out wearing the England shirt
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