Snooker wonderkid on top of world ahead of historic Jimmy White clash at UK Championship after being tipped to emulate Ronnie O'Sullivan success
By Desmond Kane
Updated 14/11/2025 at 17:31 GMT
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Michal Szubarczyk has become a world champion at the age of 14 after title glory in Qatar on Thursday. The Polish rookie became the second-youngest player to win the IBSF World Championship with a 5-2 success over home hope Ali Alobaidli. The elite event has been won by several future stars, with Jimmy White, who Szubarczyk meets in the first round of the UK Championship, victorious in 1980.
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Polish potting prodigy Michal Szubarczyk will face Jimmy White in the first round of the UK Championship later this month, buoyed by victory at the prestigious World Amateur Championship.
The 14-year-old tour rookie, who secured the Under-21 world title a year ago, became the second-youngest player in history to claim the trophy with a 5-2 final win over Qatar's Ali Alobaidli in Doha on Thursday that included breaks of 71, 51, 53 and 76.
White lifted the IBSF title in 1980, with previous winners including future major champions such as Ken Doherty (1989), Stuart Bingham (1996), Mark Allen (2004) and Yan Bingtao (2014).
Former Masters winner Yan was a few months younger than Szubarczyk when he defeated Muhammad Sajjad 8-7 in Bangalore.
World champion Zhao Xintong twice reached the final, but lost on both occasions to Zhou Yuelong (8-4) in 2013 and Pankaj Advani (8-6) in 2015.
Meanwhile, India's Anupama Ramachandran completed a 3-2 win over Hong Kong's three-time world champion Ng On Yee in the women's final in Doha.
Szubarczyk has already won European Championship youth titles at Under-16 and Under-18 level, with a 5-0 defeat in the senior European Championship final to Liam Highfield in Antalya in March earning the not insignificant consolation of a two-year tour card on the main circuit.
Ranked world No. 101, Szubarczyk, who turns 15 in January, is the youngest player to compete on the World Snooker Tour.
He has already defeated Ishpreet Singh Chadha (6-4) in qualifying for the International Championship and Martin O'Donnell (5-4) in the Xi'an Grand Prix qualifiers.
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Three-time world champion Mark Williams has tipped Szubarczyk for future success in the sport, comparing him to Ronnie O'Sullivan.
"I was in Turkey watching the Europeans. I watched a young boy there and came back and told everyone in the club that this is one of the best 14-year-olds I’ve ever seen in my life," said Williams in the Metro.
"Up there with O’Sullivan, maybe not as good, but not far away. Every time I watched him he was knocking in 80s, 90s, 100s. It was frightening."
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The 49-year gap between Szubarczyk and 1992 UK Champion White is set to create a new tournament record in the 49th edition of the competition.
Thus, it is a contest that could be described as the ultimate generation game, which will be played at 19:00 (UK time) on Saturday, November 22.
Qualifying for the UK Championship takes place between November 22-27 at Robin Park in Wigan before the main event is staged at the Barbican in York from November 29 to December 7, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
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Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the UK Championship, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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