Szubarczyk, 15, Becomes Youngest-Ever World Championship Match Winner
History Made in Sheffield as Polish Teenager Rewrites the Record Books
There are moments in sport that stop you in your tracks, and Michal Szubarczyk's performance on day one of the World Snooker Championship qualifiers was very much one of them. The 15-year-old Polish prodigy — aged just 15 years, two months, and 25 days at the time of his victory — has become the youngest player in history to win a match at the World Championship, surpassing the previous record held by Liam Davies, which had stood since 2022. To put that into perspective, Szubarczyk was still in primary school when Davies set that benchmark.
His opponent was no pushover either. Ng On Yee, the experienced Hong Kong cueist, arrived at the qualifiers in superb form, having won back-to-back titles on the World Women's Snooker Tour in February and March. This was not a player who was going to roll over and hand Szubarczyk anything. Yet the teenager took the contest by the scruff of the neck from the very first frame, rattling in breaks of 69, 52, and 74 to race into a 3-0 lead. It was composed, assured snooker that belied his age entirely.
A Pulsating Contest That Showcased His Temperament
Of course, the match was far from straightforward. Ng responded with real quality to level things up at 3-3, and for a moment it looked as though the youngster's fast start might unravel. But Szubarczyk refused to buckle. A break of 56 ignited a five-frame winning run that stretched his advantage to a commanding 8-3, and while Ng once again showed her class by winning four of the next five to close to 9-7, the Pole kept his nerve to seal a 10-7 victory. For a 15-year-old to handle that level of pressure — being pegged back twice by an accomplished opponent and still finding a way through — tells you everything you need to know about his mental fortitude.
Speaking after the match, Szubarczyk was understandably elated. "I feel very proud," he told the World Snooker Tour. "I'm very excited to play the next match, and maybe this year or next year, I can become the youngest Crucible player." He also spoke with real maturity about how he processes the pressure of big occasions: "I'm enjoying the pressure. It doesn't work in a bad way for me. I even like it, and I think that's good." That is a remarkable thing for a teenager to say, and it is a quality that separates the truly elite from the merely talented.
The Crucible Dream — and Another Record in His Sights
It is worth remembering that this is already a player with history woven through his short career. Szubarczyk became the youngest-ever professional player on the tour when he turned pro at the start of the 2025/26 season, aged just 14. Now, barely a year into his professional journey, he is already dismantling records that were thought to be out of reach for years to come.
The next target, as he himself hinted at, is the Crucible. The current record for the youngest player to qualify for the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre belongs to Belgium's Luca Brecel, who made his debut there in 2012 aged 17 years and 45 days. Szubarczyk would need to win three more matches in this year's qualifying competition to beat that record — a significant ask, but given what we have already seen, far from unthinkable. If he does not manage it this season, he will have the opportunity again next year, when he would still be well within range of Brecel's mark.
His next challenge comes against Sanderson Lam in the second round, and you suspect the young Pole will approach that match with exactly the same fearless attitude. He spoke warmly of his homeland's role in shaping his career: "Without the Polish events I wouldn't be here, because I wouldn't have had the opportunity to play at European or World Championships." It is a touching acknowledgement of the grassroots investment that so often goes unnoticed, and a reminder that the growth of snooker in continental Europe is producing genuinely world-class talent.
From a data perspective, the numbers back up the eye test here. Szubarczyk's break-building in that opening spell — three contributions of 69, 52, and 74 — demonstrated not just potting ability but the kind of consistent run-building that separates quality professionals from those still finding their feet. Watch this space. If he keeps developing at this rate, the Crucible record may well be the next entry in what is shaping up to be a quite extraordinary career.