Teenager Jamie Wilson ready to make Ronnie O’Sullivan eat his words
The 16-year-old has secured a tour card.
Snooker’s latest teenage sensation has vowed to prove Ronnie O’Sullivan wrong when he embarks on his unlikely first professional season later this year.
Less than three miles from the Crucible where O’Sullivan delivered a damning verdict on the state of snooker’s next generation on Sunday night, 16-year-old Jamie Wilson was in the process of realising his lifelong dream.
With O’Sullivan doubtless tucked up in bed after dispatching Ding Junhui to reach the World Championship quarter-finals, Wilson was battling into the early hours and through three consecutive final-frame deciders to win a two-year place on the professional tour via the sport’s qualification format, Q School.
Wilson told the PA news agency: “I would love to play Ronnie, it would be a great experience and it would be even better to beat him because of all the stuff he says about amateurs. I used to follow Ronnie but I’m more of a Judd Trump fan now.”
Those involved in the sport’s youth programmes have also been critical of O’Sullivan’s comments.
“I have never seen a higher standard of young players in my area,” Dunkley told PA. “Every generation we get through the club, we think it’s the ‘golden generation’, then another comes through that is even better.
“Young kids are knocking in century breaks. Jamie got his first century when he was 14, and we’ve got an eight-year-old whose highest break is 36. If this is also happening in other areas of the country, then the sport is alive and well.”
His stunning series of wins means he is now guaranteed a two-year shot at qualifying for all the major tournaments, but must sufficiently improve his ranking in the process to avoid having to return to Q School and potentially face relegation back to the amateur circuit in 2022.
“I’m still in shock really,” added Wilson, whose conquests included former Crucible qualifier Michael Georgiou. “I went there to improve my experience and I was not really expecting to get through. But now everything is going to change.”
