Welsh teenager Riley Powell shocks world number eight Kyren Wilson in Snooker Shoot Out

Welsh teenager Riley Powell followed Vladislav Gradinari as the second 14-year-old to make round two of the one-frame BetVictor Snooker Shoot Out in Leicester with victory over world number eight Kyren Wilson.

On Wednesday, Moldovan teenager Gradinari became the youngest player to win a televised match when he defeated three-time women’s world champion Ng On-yee.

Powell continued the trend at the Morningside Arena as he dispatched Wilson, a five-time ranking event winner, by a score of 41-31 in the quickfire competition.

“That was amazing, the best event I have played in,” said Welsh teenager Powell, who is two months older than Gradinari and turns 15 in August.

“The crowd were so good. I had a couple of early mistakes but then got back into it. I just tried to enjoy the occasion and I loved every bit of it.”

Tredegar

Powell, from Tredegar in South Wales, practises with the likes of former world champion Mark Williams, Lee Walker and Jackson Page.

“As soon as I started playing snooker I loved it,” he said on the World Snooker Tour website.

“Mark Williams has been fantastic with me, I’d like to thank him, Jackson and Lee for all the help they have given me.

“Any practice I can get them with is fabulous, I have learned a lot from them. I want to be world number one and world champion.”

Elsewhere on Thursday, amateur Michael Holt, who won the event in 2020 while on the pro tour, made the highest break so far with 116 in his win over Lei Peifan.

Dominic Dale and Matthew Stevens contested the first ‘blue-ball shoot out’ of this year’s competition, having finished tied at 49-49.

Dale went on to edge out former Masters and UK champion Stevens to progress into the second round.