“I want to go pro and be World Champion”

Most 11-year olds spend their summer holidays getting ready to make the step up to secondary school. But for Dylan Smith, English snooker prodigy, it has been a summer of learning.

This summer has seen Dylan play against adults, learning more and more about the game he is determined to be a success in – having already made a few century’s in line-up, practice – last week he hit a 105 break.

“It gives me much more experience. They’ve been playing for years so they’re good tactically.

“I learn from watching them play and learning what to do to be able to beat them.”

And beating them is exactly what he has been doing. Competing in the Summer League in Tunbridge Wells, Kent Dylan came through a field of 30 adults to reach the final, beating his opponents 3-0 in the quarter-final and 3-1 in the semi-final.

“I learn from watching them play and
learning what to do to be able to beat them”

And it is not just his opponents that have become more challenging, so too has his training.

“The routines are harder, so I’ve got to concentrate a lot more. I’ve adapted slowly, when I first started, I would practice for 1 or 2 hours.

“I realised that I needed to get better and play better, so I’ve upped it to 3-4 hours. It was easy to get into and now I want to stick to that.”

Just as he is aware that he needs to continue improving, Dylan also knows that there is a long way to go before he reaches his goal of becoming pro.

“There are certain tournaments you need to win, so there’s one called Q School. Before you can turn pro they have to enter that.

“Around 100 people enter and it’s £1,000 to enter across three tournaments, with only 16 people going pro. It’s tricky and it’s full of really good players

“You have to make a century ever 10 frames or so to stand a chance, so it’s very difficult. That’s probably 5 years away, that’s how tough it is.

“The main goal is to train as hard as you can to win that tournament.”

In the meantime, Dylan will look to completing his summer season before he takes on the winter season in his local adult league. Alongside his sporting career, he will be starting secondary school.

Balancing school and snooker are something that Dylan has come accustomed to, and the school holidays have provided him with the perfect time to continue progressing and maximising his sporting ability.

“I worked hard to get to the final and
I think losing has made me improve”

Across the bank holiday weekends, most people spent the time relaxing.

But for Dylan, Monday night represented the opportunity for him to win an adult tournament for the first time at such a young age.

Whilst Dylan lost the final 4-2, he admits he sees it as a learning curve that will help him in the future.

“It’s the closest I’ve been [to winning an adult tournament.] I worked hard to get to the final and I think losing has made me improve and I now know what I need to work on.”

Whilst it will represent a big step in his sporting career, Dylan remains focused on the bigger picture.

Outlining his goals as ‘becoming pro and [eventually] World Champion’, Dylan has big aspirations. He hasn’t even started Year 7 yet!