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Mac happy to be heading north
Preston professional Ian McCulloch heads for Glasgow this weekend for snooker's Grand Prix, the first UK-based ranking event of the new season.
And the 38-year-old – who finished runner-up in this event five years ago – is just happy to be making the trip north.
At the Kelvin Hall, McCulloch will face Ulsterman Mark Allen in the first round, a world semi-finalist back in May.
But according to McCulloch, that test will be no more demanding the one he faced to get fit for the new season.
"If you had told me 10 weeks ago when I was lying in hospital recovering from major surgery that I would make the venue stage for the Grand Prix I wouldn't have believed you," said McCulloch, who had his operation to repair a damaged shoulder.
His fitness was proved in the best way possible as he battled for more than four hours to see off Allen's countryman Joe Swail 5-4 in the final qualifying round last week at Prestatyn.
"I'm happy to get that win, but Joe is a good friend of mine so I get no satisfaction in beating him," he told 110sport.tv.
And McCulloch says that winning one match at a time will hopefully take him from his current standing of No.25 in the world back towards the elite top 16.
"If I thought I couldn't get back to the level I was at, I wouldn't play.
"It's not life or death that I play – there are more important things in life, for example, my wife and kids.
"But I like the Grand Prix. I made the final in my home town a few years back and I've also enjoyed a few quarter-finals as well."
And he is in no doubt about the challenge that faces him next week.
Full story in Wednesday's Lancashire Evening Post
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: 3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
