A young snooker player from Fife nearly pulled off the impossible after facing reigning world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in Dundee.
Jack Borwick, 15, took on the seven-time champ at an event held at the Gardyne Theatre on Sunday evening.
The Cairneyhill youth just missed out on taking a frame off his idol, who racked up 65 to the teenager’s 38.
What makes Jack’s achievement more special is that he only took up the sport just before the pandemic.
His mother, Suzanne, told The Courier her son has dedicated many hours to grow as a player.
She said: “He’s only been playing for three years and, if you think, a year of that was Covid.
“He started playing pool and would attend sessions held at The Ball Room in Dunfermline where children would get to play for £1 and there would be pizza on offer.
Following in his father’s footsteps
“He started to enjoy playing and fancied having a go at the bigger tables.
“His father, Mark, used to play and decided to take Jack to Locarno Snooker Club in Edinburgh.
“Then the pandemic arrived so we bought a small table from Argos; for those 10 months all he did was play!
“He now trains in a room at a boxing club in Dunfermline and he spends all his free time there.”
Suzanne continued by sharing Jack’s impressive achievements over the last 12 months.
She said: “Last season he played his first full Scottish snooker season and he became under-16 national champion and came fourth in the under-21 group, which is sensational if you think about how long he’s been playing.
“He played in the World Junior Championships in Sheffield, reaching the final 16 stage.
“He also represented Scotland in the European Championships in Albania, reaching the last 16 in the under-18s and last 32 in the under-21s.
“Because of this he has been selected to captain the under-16 Scotland squad at the Home Internationals in Leeds next month.
Always looking to improve
“If he’s not playing or practising, he’s watching videos of other players, trying to see what he can use to make his game better.
“I was watching Ronnie when Jack started and you could see he noticed that Jack had something about him.”
Having to take Jack up and down the country is surely no easy feat for his parents, but Suzanne says they don’t mind putting in the hours for their son.
She said: “We enjoy it and everyone is so nice.
“We take Jack to clubs where there’s people of different ages but they all speak to each other.
“It is a challenge financially and we may need to start thinking along the lines of sponsorship to help us get Jack to these tournaments.
“But we do what we can to help him get on that road.”
O’Sullivan appeared at the theatre for two evenings, with the events organised by Shotz Pool and Snooker owners Ryan and Marc Fleming.
Lucky players and punters either qualified or paid to play one frame against the icon.
O’Sullivan, who recently had a documentary crew follow him for a Netflix series, hit a 147 against one competitor at the Dundee event.
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