Stonehouse teenager Rhys Clark hopes to win the European Under-21 Snooker Championships and turn professional.

Mar 31 2011 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

YOUNG Rhys Clark has set his sights on scooping at least a semi-final slot at the European Under-21 Snooker Championships in Malta as he bids to land a professional contract.

The Stonehouse 16-year-old heads to the Dolmen Hotel for the tournament, which runs from April 2-7, having qualified as Scotland’s joint-top ranked player at under-21 level.

Hamilton College student Rhys has previous experience, having taken part in the Under-19 Championships last April and the Under-17 event in Malta in January of this year.

He said: “I head off to Malta on Saturday and it starts at night, so I’m being thrown in at the deep end.

“I’m looking forward to it though. I took part in the Under-19 tournament last year and it was good just to get to know the standard of player in Europe.

“I hope I can get at least to the semi-finals and get into the winning circle – that would mean I could go professional and that is the target for me, because I want to compete with some of the top players.”

A hero of Rhys is three-time World champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, and the teenager hopes to be rubbing shoulders with the English star later this year.

Rhys has recently come through the regional final of the Future Stars of Snooker competition in Bellshill, which is run by Rileys in conjunction with O’Sullivan and offers a £5000 sponsorship package and coaching from the star for the eventual winner.

Rhys said: “I won the regional stage at Bellshill, so it’s the Scottish event after that and then I would go down to the Crucible in Sheffield along with eight other regional finalists, and Ronnie O’Sullivan decides who wins the tournament from then.

“I’m a fan of Ronnie’s, so that appeals to me.”

Proud mum Jane said: “Rhys got started because a friend took him to a snooker club to play pool, but he preferred snooker and it just took off from there.

“He’s joint first in the under-21 rankings in Scotland and the top four qualify for the tournament in Malta.

“He took part in the under-19 championships in Malta last April and was over in January for the under-17 championships, where he finished third.

“He’s going into this tournament to try and win it, because he wants to go professional.”