Brief Résumé
Haydon's journey towards World Professional status began when he joined the West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation (WEBSF) as an amateur at the age of nine years. Under the guidance of the WEBSF coaching volunteers it wasn't long before he started winning tournaments, the first being the WEBSF Bronze Waistcoat for under 16's in 2012. Haydon went on to contest no less than 42 finals at Bronze, Silver and Gold level.
After four failed attempts to qualify from Q School Haydon finally achieved professional status at the fifth time of asking. Michal Day of Totally Snookered wrote:
"There will be huge relief for Pinhey, who finally realises his dream of being of a fully-fledged professional player.
The 27-year-old from England relinquished just three frames in three matches en route to the final round, coming from behind to eliminate Q School expert Craig Steadman 4-2 in the last 32.
Meeting the vastly experienced Gerard Greene on Sunday morning, Pinhey compiled breaks of 100 and 53 as he moved 3-0 up before having to suffer as his opponent clawed his way back into the tie.
However, Pinhey steadied himself in a scrappy sixth frame, showing fine matchplay acumen to win 4-2 and earn his tour stripes.
It was a case of fifth time’s a charm for Pinhey, who had agonisingly lost in the final round in each of the last four years at Q School. He has previously appeared on the pro circuit many times before as an amateur top up player and registered several notable victories, including one over Luca Brecel."
Totally Snookered