BOY POTTER Michal Szubarczyk is set to become the youngest person involved in the 98-year-old World Snooker Championship.
The 14-year-old from Poland will debut in the qualifiers this month as 128 players try to secure one of 16 coveted places at the marquee tournament.
Michal Szubarczyk is on the verge of making snooker history
INSTAGRAM@SZUBISNOOKERThe 14-year-old is on the brink of becoming the youngest-ever player to play at the Crucible[/caption]
Szubarczyk – who was born on January 12, 2011 – will face Scotland’s Dean Young, 23, on Tuesday, April 8 in the opening qualifying round at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
The winner of that tie, which is the best of 19 frames, will face Stan Moody – the 18-year-old cueist from Halifax – in round two on Friday April 11.
Should Szubarczyk win four consecutive matches – which is highly unlikely given his zero experience of the professional ranks – then he would secure a spot at the Crucible.
The Eastern European teenager took the recent European Championships in Turkey by storm, winning the under-16s and under-18s events before reaching the final of the open-age event.
As a result of his performances, he has been nominated for a two-year World Snooker Tour card, which will start from next season.
Mark Williams, the three-time world champion, watched that event and said Szubarczyk was “one of the best 14-year-olds I’ve ever seen in my life”.
The Welshman, 50, added: ‘Up there with Ronnie O’Sullivan. Maybe not as good, but not far away.”
Instagram @szubisnookerMichal Szubarczyk has a bright future ahead of him[/caption]
Welsh teen Liam Davies is the youngest winner of a World Championship match after he beat Ireland’s Aaron Hill three years ago at the age of 15 years and 277 days.
In darts, Luke Littler was 16 years old when he qualified for the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship at Ally Pally and he reached the final on his debut appearance.
O’Sullivan is currently the youngest-ever debutant at the Crucible, making his bow at the historic Sheffield venue in 1992 aged 16.
Elsewhere in the qualifying draw, former UK Champion Zhao Xintong – who served a 20-month ban for match-fixing offences – will battle Hong Kong’s Ka Wai Cheung on Monday April 7, the opening day.
Cueing legend Jimmy White – a six-time Crucible finalist – will start against Ukraine’s Anton Kazakov but he has not appeared in the main draw since 2006.
Reanne Evans, the record 12-time women’s world champion, will try again to become the first woman to compete at the main event of the Worlds.
Judgement Day – the climax to the fourth and final round – will be spread over two days, on April 15-16, and then the draw will take place on the morning of April 17.
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