When top New Zealand pool player Simon Singleton contacted Dunedin coach Neil Whalley — who coaches Wright and Watson — asking if he wanted to represent New Zealand at the world eight ball pool championships, Whalley kindly passed up on the opportunity.
While Whalley was not keen to head to Blackpool himself, he suggested Wright and Watson, and the two rising players jumped at the chance to represent their country.
Wright, 22, and Watson, 21, will join the eight men and four women representing New Zealand at the competition in singles and a team event next month.
"It’s come about real quick," Wright said.
"We’ve just been excited this whole time. I don’t know, the nerves might start to settle in once we get over there, but I’m pretty excited."
New Zealand will be among the 15 countries attending the event — it is the first time in 25 years New Zealand have attended the world championships — and the Dunedin players would love a chance against the "big dogs".
But the experience as a whole would be unforgettable.
"Just being there for our country, I reckon, with NZ on our shirt," Wright said.
"It’s something cool, and cool to be able to bring those shirts home too."
The trip was predominantly self-funded and the pair held a fundraising tournament at their local Bowey’s Pool Lounge.
While 50% of the profits were meant to go to them, and the other half to the winner, their friend and local pool player, Brendan Ng, won the tournament and donated his winnings back to them.
The community support they received had been fantastic, Wright said.
Wright grew up playing pool with his father, Glenn, and started playing in competitions when he was 14, and is the youngest in the local A grade league alongside Watson.
Watson, who moved to Dunedin last year from Otaki, grew up playing snooker with father Don and uncle Shane.
He went to the under-18 and under-21 snooker world championships — he went to his first competition at 15 — in 2018, 2019 and 2023 and made the quarterfinals at under-21 level.
It was an "eye-opener" and a great experience for the young player, but when he moved to Dunedin he took up pool for something different and had enjoyed it since.
