Longford teenager becomes youngest Irishman on World Snooker Tour

"I'm buzzing to get over and get playing with the professional players."

Longford teenager Joe Shannon is set to become the youngest Irish player to compete on the World Snooker Tour on Wednesday.

The 14-year-old is due to face world number 23 Robert Milkins at 1.40 pm at the Snooker Shoot Out in Leicester.

The Shoot Out is a unique tournament, with every match lasting a maximum of 10 minutes. There is a 15-second shot clock for the first five minutes and 10 seconds for the last five.

Its quick-fire nature allows for a large field, and last year it was the scene of 13-year-old Shaun Liu becoming the youngest winner of a match on tour.

The reigning champion, Antrim's Mark Allen, is in the field, as are former world champions Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, and the legendary Jimmy White.

The tournament will also be live on Eurosport.

Shannon - the current Irish U-16 champion - said:

"I can't wait. I got the news a few weeks ago, I'm buzzing to get over and get playing with the professional players. I won the U-14 and U-16 National Championships so that earned a wild card.

"It’s a great opener to what I want to do as a career. It's all a great experience. There's no pressure, so I can't wait for it. I just want to get over there, to know what it's like to be there with the best of the best, but it's all just experience really.

"I'm more excited now, but I presume when I get over there I'll be a bit nervous. But once I get playing, I'll be fine. I'm nervous at every competition, but once I get playing, I'm alright."

Pride of Longford

Shannon has a snooker table at home in Longford and plays tournaments most weeks in Kildare and Carlow.

He is currently being coached by former Irish professional Fergal O'Brien, who retired earlier this year. O'Brien is a former British Open winner, and reached the final of the Masters in 2001, and a career-high ranking of world number 9.

Shannon added: "I've been playing probably about five years now, but maybe the last year or two I started to kick on and started winning a lot more.

"The last two years have probably been my biggest years. It's also been two years with Fergal now, so he's really brought me to the next level. I can't wait to see what is going to happen next.

"There's no club where I'm from, so I needed a table, and I was lucky enough to get one of the best tables, so I was very lucky. I couldn't do anything without my parents. They bring me down every weekend, and on a Wednesday evening I come up to Kildare with Dad, so they're a big help as well."

O'Brien said: "It’s fantastic for him, so we’re really looking forward to it," the former British Open winner said.

"He has nothing to lose. It's such a great fun and great buzz and he'll thoroughly enjoy it.

"He's had a lot of success, but also he's had a lot of disappointments, particularly when you're so young. That needs to be managed and dealt with, it's all part of it. But he’s got every chance [of becoming a professional].

"If you take him at 14, he's a far superior player to me when I was 14. They're all good signs."