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<\/p>\nA man who bought a pool table after winning \u00a32.4million on the lottery will represent England at the European Pool Championships.<\/p>\n
Neil Jones, 59, has embarked on an incredible journey after winning the lottery with his partner Julie Kirkham just before Christmas 2010. After landing the \u00a32.4m jackpot, Jones, a former tiler, immediately went out and bought himself a pool table. <\/p>\n
Remarkably, 13 years on, Jones is now set to captain England in Malta next month after the jackpot prize allowed him to focus on pool. The Stoke-on-Trent local plays at The Plaza club in Fenton and recently represented England in a Home Nations tournament earlier this year.<\/p>\n
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He told BBC Radio Stoke: "Winning the lottery allowed me to put those hours in. If I didn't win, I wouldn't have been able to buy the table, I wouldn't have had the time – I'd still be on my hands and knees tiling. You can't just buy a place in the England team, you've got to put the hours in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neil admitted it took 18 months for the news of the lottery win to sink in, as the former part-time singer in pubs and clubs revealed they only gave everyone \u00a3100 for Christmas following the Jackpot.<\/p>\n
Have you ever heard of a story like Neil Jones\u2019 before? Let us know in the comments section.<\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n
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He said: \u201cWe didn\u2019t spend a penny until the New Year. I stuck to my plan of everyone getting \u00a3100 for Christmas \u2013 I wanted to get our old life out of the way – January 1, we started a new life. I didn\u2019t tell anyone at first, not until we went public.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Stoke ace revealed the support that his late dad gave him, emotionally saying that his dad would have been in Malta supporting him in the upcoming tournament, he added: \u201cMy dad was so supportive of me. He was so proud.<\/p>\n
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"When he was in hospital, I used to tell him the county results every month and he\u2019d say \u2018you really want this don\u2019t you? It will come\u2019 and it did \u2013 it was really emotional.<\/p>\n
"I try to motivate the other boys [on the team], so when I was asked if I wanted to be captain for England, I couldn\u2019t say no to that. I was sobbing, I couldn\u2019t talk. If my dad had been here now, he would be in Malta with me.\u201d<\/p>\n