Scott Donaldson has had a difficult time on and off the table (Picture: Getty Images)
Scott Donaldson is still trying to overcome a tremor which has seriously hampered his snooker career, but after securing his first win of the season he is hopeful there are better times ahead.
The 29-year-old was forced to retire from his World Snooker Championship qualifying match with Ryan Day in April, with the shaking in his leg making it impossible for him to perform.
It was a return of a problem which he had dealt with in his arm after taking the Covid vaccine in 2021, but an issue which had apparently cleared up before infuriatingly returning in Sheffield.
The Scot is still undergoing tests to find out exactly what the problem is, with the search for answers still going on.
‘It’s been different, that’s for sure,’ Donaldson told Metro.co.uk. ‘It’s still an ongoing process, I’m still going to get tests and scans in the next month or two. They think they know what it is but I don’t want to say until it’s been confirmed.
‘I don’t want to say too much because I’m still getting tests. I don’t want to say it’s this and then it ends up not being.’
Donaldson had won two matches in Sheffield before having to pull out of the match with Day after four frames, and he explains exactly how the frustrating time played out.
‘It was horrible because I hadn’t had the tremor for so long,’ he said. ‘Towards the end of the match against Yuan Sijun I was clearing up, I got to the pink and my leg just started trembling really bad when I was down on the shot.
‘I don’t know how I got over the line, I think I just needed one more frame so I just scraped through it. But I said to my wife, that didn’t feel normal. I thought I was just tired after a really long match. But the very first safety shot against Ryan I felt it right away and it didn’t improve whatsoever.
‘I just said to Ryan, “listen mate, there’s no point in me going back out there, I just can’t play to any level, it’s going to be 10-0, it’s pointless, I just can’t compete.”
‘I had a really bad time in the tournament office, a very emotional time. It’s a few months since then so now I’m kind of understanding what it is I’ve got and trying to work round it. Trying to play at least.’
The issue first emerged two years ago and Donaldson explains how opponents were concerned for him as he visibly shook while trying to play.
‘I had it from June/July to November 2021 and I was able to play but not to any kind of level. I had to basically accept 70-80 per cent of my game maximum,’ he said.
‘I remember playing Dean Young at the British Open and I asked him after if he’d seen me shaking. He said, “yeah, I couldn’t believe it!”
‘I played Ben Hancorn as well and he was asking me if I was alright because I was shaking so much. I felt ok, just couldn’t stop shaking. But I was still difficult to play, just not at the level I know I can.
Scott Donaldson has been as high as #22 in the world (Picture: Getty Images)
‘It was in my arm before. I felt it after the Covid jab so it was in my left arm, then it moved across my body. It spread a bit, but then five months later it faded away and I thought it was gone, but my left leg seemed to take a hit at Sheffield for some reason.
‘I just got this tingling feeling in my leg and it feels very weak at times. It was strange to get it back, it’s hard to explain but the body is just not working as well as it was before.’
The issue is not a painful one, but it is confusing and a nightmare while trying to play a game of the finest margins like snooker.
Explaining the symptoms, Donaldson said: ‘It’s a bit like being extremely nervous. When people say your legs are like jelly, it’s like that.
‘Or if you’ve got pins and needles, the numbness goes away but you have a tingling sensation down your leg. It’s that sort of ball park. Whenever I was to put pressure on it it would just cave in, shaking, trembling.
‘I’ve rested up and I’m just trying to play a match at a time or even just a frame at a time, trying to feel like I can actually get down on the shot and play properly.’
Donaldson currently stands at #52 in the world rankings (Picture: Getty Images)
Donaldson has had some significant encouragement by picking up his first win of the season, beating David Grace in European Championship qualifying.
‘It was awesome just to be able to play, regardless of the result,’ he said. ‘I tried something different to get round it and I was just so happy to be able to go and play without even thinking about anything else. Before I was on the shot and could only think about keeping my leg still, not about the shot in front of me, so that was really good.
‘I’m not sure how much I can judge it on a qualifier though, with only my wife watching. It wouldn’t be as nerve-racking as other venues. Ben Mertens says his is worse when he plays bigger matches, I don’t know if it’ll be the same for me. It’s trial and error at the minute.’
18-year-old Mertens has also been suffering with a tremor in his head since taking the Covid vaccine and the pair have chatted through their similar, but not entirely identical problems.
‘I spoke to the doctor about Ben, similar symptoms and they came about in pretty much an identical way. The doctor thinks it’s slightly different, what he’s got, but I’ll have a chat with Ben next time I see him and see how he’s getting on,’ said Donaldson.
‘It’s amazing how he can play properly like that. It shows how much ability he must have to be moving like that and still be that accurate. I like Ben a lot and I hope he can get through it.’
As a side effect of the vaccine, the issue is a controversial one and one that Donaldson would rather not be a part of, but it is an experience that has had a very real impact on his career.
‘I’m really trying to avoid that [vaccine debate], it causes more problems than it’s worth,’ he said. ‘All my family have had the vaccine and they’ve not had an issue. People will have side effects. I can only really speak for myself, this is what I’ve been through.’
The former Championship League winner is back in action for British Open qualifying on 15 August before going to Nuremberg for the European Masters a week later.
He is hoping that the control of the tremor he managed in his last outing continues and he can enjoy playing and perform somewhere near his excellent best.
‘I’ve thrown targets and goals out the window years ago, I just want to go and play,’ he said. ‘If I can bring anything close to my game then I can compete. I might not win a lot of tournaments, but I can compete, and that’s what I really want to do.
‘I just want to play snooker, I don’t complicate things. I’m not out to make a million, I just want to make a decent living.’
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‘It’s hard to explain but the body is just not working as well as it was.’