Fourteen-year-old shocks snooker world champion to make history

Fourteen-year-old Vladislav Gradinari beat three-time women’s world champion Ng On-yee in the first round of the Snooker Shootout

Mark Mann-Bryans
Thursday 26 January 2023 07:52 GMT
Comments
Snooker world champion Ng On-yee was stunned by the teenager
Snooker world champion Ng On-yee was stunned by the teenager (AFP via Getty Images)

Moldovan teenager Vladislav Gradinari went from a country with just “three or four” snooker tables to becoming the youngest player to win a televised match.

The 14-year-old beat three-time women’s world champion Ng On-yee in the first round of the one-frame BetVictor Snooker Shootout in Leicester.

The momentous victory sees Gradinari, who lives in Leeds, advance into the next round at the Morningside Arena as he explained snooker is not the most accessible sport in his homeland.

“It is not really popular, we have three or four tables in the whole country,” the reigning England under-14 champion told the World Snooker Tour.

“It (the win) feels amazing. I played my best game, at the table I felt calm. At the age of seven, I started playing snooker and we moved here two years ago.”

World No 7 Mark Williams, beaten finalist in the Shootout last year, also made it through to round two by racking up 98 points in victory over Craig Steadman.

Iran’s Hossein Vafaei beat Williams last year but will not retain his title after losing to former world champion Shaun Murphy.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in