Cancer survivor Leo Scullion is the only man guaranteed to take part in snooker’s world championship from start to finish.
The Scot has been chosen to referee today’s opening frames and take charge of the showpiece final.
The former beat bobby will be watched by a global TV audience of millions when he patrols the Crucible cauldron for the game’s biggest match in a fortnight.
And this morning, he gets the show on the road by officiating in the clash between defending champion Mark Williams and Martin Gould.
But Leo’s road to Sheffield certainly hasn’t been smooth.
Born in Glasgow’s east end, the school janitor’s son, 61, joined the city police as a 19-year-old recruit in 1977.
It wasn’t long before he was enjoying a frame or two of snooker “in a wee hut at the back of Ballieston police station”.
His best break remains 93 but by far his biggest has been winning his personal battle with lung cancer.
He feels lucky that his care at the hands of the NHS in Scotland has seen him survive to reach his sport’s summit.
Leo told the Record: “The world final is the pinnacle of any referee’s career.
“Once you get to the very highest levels of the game and you’ve reffed the UK and other major finals you begin to think, and hope, that one day you might be chosen for the world final.”
It might seem like a fitting finale given what Leo’s been through over the last five years – but he’s no intention of folding away the white gloves.
He said: “As long as my health stays good and I can keep myself fit, I’ll go on as long as snooker wants me.
“Things are great and long may they continue. I was first diagnosed in 2014 and it was a really difficult time.
“The treatment I’ve had, chemo at Crosshouse, radiotherapy at the Beatson, is just phenomenal. The progress that’s been made in cancer treatment is incredible, as is the dedication of staff.
“It’s something you hear a lot but when you are on the patient side of the NHS, they’re out of this world.
“The statistics for my age group surviving lung cancer beyond however many years basically weren’t very good.
“But the tumour shrunk ‘spectacularly’ so much so that by March 2015 I had surgery to try to remove the remainder.
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“But because of it’s position the surgeon said it would be too dangerous to try to cut it out.
“Good thing is I’m never going to wonder what might have been if he hadn’t gone in because I know he did his best.
“He tried and there will never be that doubt.”
Leo started smoking as a teenager and ended up on 20-30 a day but gave up immediately on diagnosis. He said: “It was almost automatic.
“If they were going to put the resources in to try to save my life, I’m certainly not going to keep smoking and make the bloody thing worse.
“But I wouldn’t recommend it as a method by which to stop.”
