By Elliott West
It’s very nice to be the youngest player to win a match in the World Championship, but to have but a record like that is are not really that important. What’s most important for me now is to turn professional. My game is ready for it. If I don’t make it to the Crucible then I will be going to Q School.”
Ben Mertens
Introduction
One of the newest kids off the block in the world of snooker has to be Belgium’s, Ben Mertens, nicknamed ‘TinTin’. A joy to watch, Ben possesses that raw talent of a rookie that matures by the day. This whizz-kid already knows every angle on a snooker table, beginning his outing as a snooker player when he was only eight, first picking up a cue when he picked out a mini pool table in a toy shop and convinced his father to buy it.
Career
Six years after this first outing with a cue, Mertens amazingly was representing his country alongside Luca Brecel in the World Cup in China, playing the likes of John Higgins and Ding Junhui, a tournament where the Belgium team topped the group before losing in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Ben ditched the mini-pool table and replaced it with a professional Star snooker table. Having now left school by this stage, he spent his time practicing at home and down the snooker club with Luca Brecel.
His elder, Brecel, has helped him gain the experience required to play a professional player and concentrate on improving his long potting. As they say “practice makes perfect” and for an up and coming player, this is key. Not only to improve your game but to completely deconstruct every aspect of your game, putting it under the microscope and creating tailor-made drills to polish the imperfections into perfections.
It’s a strategy that has paid off with this young amateur, already making headlines. I first saw him play several years ago when he took part in the Snooker Shootout at Watford Coliseum. Entered as an additional player in recognition for his efforts already, Ben played the legendary James Wattana, then aged 13, Mertens had come over from Belgium with his father and coach and it wasn’t long in this single that we had to wait for a glimpse of his genius. Ben potted a divine initial opening red and went on to win the frame, potting a number of balls through attacking play and most importantly wasn’t phased by the occasion nor the shot clock.
Mertens has been dubbed as a player to watch and rightly so. Aged now 17, he has already won the Under-16 Snooker Championship in 2018, becoming the first Belgian male champion, aged 13. He also reached the semi-finals of the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships, losing to Aaron Hill. More recently he won his first-round match against James Cahill at the 2020 World Championship and won the 2021 EBSA Under-18 Snooker Championships, defeating fellow Belgian, Julien Leclercq 4-3 in the final.
Afterthought
Ben Mertens has a bright future in snooker and if he is able to make to formidable leap from amateur to professional player, he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with. Still rough around the edges, Ben has an impressive style of play and is not afraid to take on the more ambitious pot. He looks fearless around the table and doesn’t seem to be phased by any of his opponents. His hunger for success is evident and you can see that burning concentration in his eyes when he plays. On current evidence, this young man is already a rising star of the game and will hopefully start winning matches and then tournaments on the professional tour in the future.
