Coach hails Havant potter Jamie Wilson’s ‘extraordinary’ achievement of making it onto the professional snooker tour

But the World Snooker coach warned the Havant potter the hard work has just begun as he now aims to establish himself amongst the sport's elite.

Wilson reeled off a run of remarkable results to earn a two-year tour card through the Q School qualification tournament last August.

Aged just 16 at the time, it was a stunning achievement for someone so young to produce that level of performance when the stakes were so high.

Dunkley has been working with Wilson since 2016 out of Waterlooville Sports Bar, which is owned by the teenager’s parents Suzy and Steve.

He was in no doubt of the player's potential when they linked up and was delighted to see him secure a spot on the tour.

Dunkley said: I’d known Jamie for a while and they asked me to coach him. It was a challenge but I had to jump at it.

‘He was the best young talent in Portsmouth and he was 13 when I started working with him.

‘I caught him just at the right time. It’s one of those things where things just happen at the right time.

‘I think at any other time it wouldn’t have worked but I think he was getting frustrated, he wasn’t moving forward and he needed a bit of a kick.

‘I think we were both very lucky and we both sort of stumbled into it at the right time. He really responded to it so well, it was absolutely incredible.

‘He was certainly the standout player in the Portsmouth area and if you’re talking about the south of England, youngsters in southern England, there are a handful you talk about and Jamie is one of them.

'But getting onto the tour is a big, big step. There are a lot of very good players who don’t make it but full credit to him, what he did to make it on the tour was extraordinary.'

Understandably, aged just 17, Wilson has found life on the tour a bit of a slog.

He's failed to win any of the nine matches in various competitions entered as a professional.

His latest chance arrives this Tuesday in the first round of the Welsh Open at the Celtic Manor resort on the outskirts of Newport. Wilson has been drawn against local player Duane Jones, ranked No 90 in the world.

Dunkley admitted Wilson’s results so far are understandable, given how big the jump up in level is.

Yet no matter what happens, he just wants Wilson to enjoy his time on the pro tour.

‘He’s worked for 10 or 11 years to do this and he’s now a professional snooker player and he can just enjoy being part of it,' added Dunkley.

‘He hasn’t got the pressures of having a wife, kids and a mortgage to support, so he hasn’t got to worry too much about the money side of it. He can just learn and get better.

‘If he drops off (the tour) then he’ll be even better prepared next time.

‘It is tough to suddenly go from being a good amateur to being a professional; it’s actually a huge step, it’s not just the small step that some people think it is.

‘The biggest advantage he had was when his mum and dad brought him the Star table and he practiced on a professional table.

'That really was a game changer. He found he couldn’t just hammer the balls in like he had been before and his game went forward and forward and forward from that.

‘The last year or so, the things he’s done, he’s won tournaments locally, and that was massive for him when he started winning Cuestars events.'

Wilson won two of the last four Under-21 Gold events on the Cuestars tour, in December 2019 and February 2020. Due to the pandemic, the last Under-21 tournaments took place at Fareham Snooker Club almost a year ago, on February 23.