There are a conveyor belt of young prodigies, prospects for the future and snooker talents. We have seen throughout the ages from the ‘Class of ’92’ to the never-ending hotbed of Chinese talent. But what about the next generation? What about the people who haven’t turned professional yet?
We have already seen Jackson Page make their debuts on the professional tour. He was given the prodigy treatment of winning a number of international tournaments, while Mark Williams claimed Page is the best youngster Wales ever had. We saw Yan Bingtao, Zhou Yuelong and Zhao Xintong qualify for the Crucible in recent years. Joe O’Connor manage to reach his first ranking semi-final in his first season. Judd Trump, who was touted since the age of 14 to become something special in the snooker world, is now a Triple Crown champion. There are many stories like this.
Unfortunately, there are a number of others who fall below expectations. Stephen Maguire, Kacper Filipiak and Ding Junhui are players who were lauded to be future World Champions or to some extent, dominate the game. Of course, these players have gone on to win many ranking events but some feel they should achieve more. Especially the case with Kacper, only time will tell if they live up to that tag.
This is a question I posed a while ago. A lot of the discussion young can read via the thread below.
It is a seriously interesting topic. A number of people came up with a number of talents, some of whom I have never heard of before. Most of the discussion revolved around European talent rather than anywhere else. It is worth mentioning Long Zehuang, Lin Shuai and Wang Zepeng, who are all early-20s and participated in Q School. Then there’s this article a few years ago that a three-year-old Chinese prodigy apparently having the skills to rival Rocket Ronnie. There’s always one, I suppose.
Arguably, the hottest talent is 14-year-old Ben Mertens. Over the past couple of years, Mertens enjoyed beating some professionals under the limelight. After qualifying for the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic, he defeated professional Adam Stefanow 4-1. Later in the season, the World Open Under-16 champion beat James Wattana in the 2019 Snooker Shoot-Out. The Belgian was also impressive when paired up with compatriot Luca Brecel in the recent World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals. He is certainly one to watch.
But of course, there are many others.
I have been told that Paul Deaville, who recently won the 2019 English Under-16 Snooker Championship, is expected to achieve big things. The we come onto the maximum men. Sean Maddocks became the youngest player to score a 147 in professional competition. The Merseyside Open champion. completed the perfect frame at the age of 15 years and 90 days, eclipsing the record of a certain Ronnie O’Sullivan. Ukranian Iulian Boiko is a chap groomed for stardom too. He featured in international amateur tournaments since he was 9-years old. He has also scored his first maximum during practice, as shown below:
One yardstick to find out how capable these players are is at Q School. Boiko and Maddocks participated there, with Maddocks reaching the final round of Event 1. He was just one match away from becoming a professional after winning five matches before being whitewashed by David Lilley. Other youngsters impressed. One particular example is Ross Bulman, who is a 2019 EBSA Under-21 finalist, finished top of the Q School Order of Merit. Other young amateurs, such as Tyler Rees, Florian Nüßle, Ryan Davies and Shane Castle also had a good go. Let’s not forget that Davies reached the Last 16 of the Shoot-Out, beating Robbie Williams and Sunny Akani.
One of the most interesting things nowadays is the on-line presence of teenage snooker players, something that is unimaginable a decade or so ago. Players such as Northern Irishman Robbie Mcguigan, Dylan Smith and Welshman Liam Davies are prime examples. It’s amazing to see how they can show off their talents, update their news and post exhibition dates with legends of the game to do this. Word spreads. It’s a fantastic tool to do this, rather than post awful codswallop on Twitter. Legend Jimmy White and former pro Leo Fernandez praised 11 year-old Dylan in particular.
Of course, there is still a long way to go. It is very easy to tip someone to be the ‘future Ronnie O’Sullivan’ and then for that person to lose their way, either by lacking motivation for a career in sport or many other distractions. But it’s brilliant to see some players trying to make their mark already, having interviews and gaining some exposure. Who knows – maybe we could see one of them as World Champion? We will have to see!
