By World Snooker Tour

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Mark Williams knows a thing or two about snooker, so when he described Michal Szubarczyk as "one of the best 14-year-olds I’ve seen in my life" he certainly ramped up expectation ahead of the Polish wonderkid's debut season on tour, when he will make history as the sport's youngest ever professional.

Veteran Williams made that comment after the EBSA European Championship in Turkey in March, where Szubarczyk won the Under-16 and Under-18 titles as well as finishing runner-up to Liam Highfield in the senior event. Williams added: "He's up there with Ronnie O’Sullivan at that age. Maybe not as good, but not far away. Every time I watched him he was knocking in 80s, 90s, 100s. It was frightening."

Fortunately, both Michal and his father Kamil have level heads on their shoulders and will not get carried away by that kind of hyperbole. But there is no doubting their enthusiasm as they look forward to a first venture into the professional ranks, having earned a two-year tour card with that success in Turkey.

"I'm really excited," said Michal, via Kamil who manages his career and speaks fluent English. "This is something completely different than before, where I went to many tournaments as a favourite. I love playing with the audience and cameras and I hope there will many matches like that. I don't put much pressure on myself to win, I have a lot of time to achieve my goals. 

"When I got the tour card there were very mixed emotions. I had been striving for this since I was seven years old. But then suddenly doubts appeared. Whether I can do it, whether I'm too young? I will have to give up playing in the national team and leave my team friends. 

"The decision to accept the tour card was easy, we made it a long time ago when I started training. But there were questions about finances, and what about school, what about the rest of the family, will I manage? But I am sure it is the right decision because it has always been my dream."

Michal and his family will make sure that the teenager balances school with snooker. "In Poland there is a duty of education until the age of 18, and my parents will definitely make sure that I will make it," said Michal, who names maths as his favourite subject. "I will have individual learning conditions, adapted to my frequent trips." 

They will remain based in Poland and travel to the UK ahead of tournaments to practise. He added: "Of course I would like to move to the UK, but I can't do it just like that, it is impossible for now. I will fly to England for sparring whenever possible, mainly at Victoria's academy in Sheffield. Victoria treats me and my dad very warmly, we are grateful for her hospitality and I like the atmosphere there. I would like to meet a few players who I can practise with more often and get some match advice from them.

"Marcin Nitschke, who is the ambassador for snooker in Poland, is creating his own academy in Zielona Gora so I can also play there with Antoni Kowalski and Mateusz Baranowski."

Any comparison with O'Sullivan might be premature, but the Rocket has certainly been an inspiration to the Szubarczyks. "I was almost seven when I first watched snooker," Michal recalls. "Dad was watching Ronnie play, I asked if I could sit in. Then I asked if we could go to play sometime. We went the next day and…here I am! Ronnie is still my hero, he has a special place in my head. His offensive, even aggressive style of play was my model when I started playing. Now I'm just improving all the time."

Michal could barely have a more difficult challenge in his first professional match as he faces Shaun Murphy on Monday in the Wuhan Open qualifiers. But he has no trepidation about making the huge step up to the main tour. "I'm looking forward to the game with Shaun, I think it will be a good match," he said. "My goal for the next two seasons will be to stay on the tour. I have a lot of time, I think two years will be enough to do it."