World Snooker Championship star opens up on scary ordeal as daughter born premature

Chris Wakelin has lifted the lid on the fear of his daughter being born nine weeks early. The world No.20's partner Lucy gave birth to baby Mia just 14 minutes, shorter than frames the Rugby potter will play at the Crucible, after he rushed her to hospital back in December.

Wakelin, understandably, hated leaving his family to play in tournaments earlier this year. But with mother and baby now thankfully out of the woods, he is embracing his World Championship challenge. Speaking ahead of the draw Wakelin, who won two qualifiers to return to the Crucible for the first time since 2022, said: "She was nine weeks premature. The first three months were really iffy. There were some really tough days, back and forth to the hospital for six weeks.

"We were spending on average 8-10 hours a day at the hospital, just looking at her, hoping she would pull through. She was on a feeding tube, oxygen, we were very lucky that she didn't need any extra operations, given how early she was.

"It was a real mental challenge and to be fair the first three tournaments I played in as a dad, I didn't want to be there. We had been in and out of hospital for weeks and weeks. On that particular day, I could tell something was wrong.

"I was like, 'right, we are going to the hospital, something ain't right.' We got into the car park, I ran round and dragged Lucy out of the car and her waters went outside. Survival instincts just kicked in.

"The baby was born 14 minutes after we got to the car park - so we were very lucky that she didn't end up born in the car! I just abandoned the car. She's doing amazing now. I'm delighted to be back at the Crucible. I'm a completely different player to a few years ago."