Meet Jackson Page, dubbed the ‘complete player’ by World Championship opponent Ronnie O’Sullivan & mentored by his rival

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN rates Crucible foe Jackson Page as the best young player in world snooker right now.

The Rocket battles the Welshman – 26 years his junior – in the first round of the World Snooker Championship next Wednesday and Thursday.

Getty

Getty

Only once in 20 years has O’Sullivan, 48, lost his opening match at the Crucible and he will be overwhelming favourite to progress.

Page, 22, is mentored by Class of 92 graduate Mark Williams and is regarded as someone to watch over the coming years.

When SunSport spoke with O’Sullivan about the next generation of cueists, the Valleys potter was forefront of his mind.

The world No.1 said: “Jackson Page has benefited from Mark Williams. He has played with Mark, having come through as a junior.

“He’d have learned a lot. From being around him and picking balls out. Mark has sharpened him up.

“I didn’t realise he was only about 22. He looks a lot older than that.

“When I was told his age, I was like: ‘There you go, that’s what happens when you have someone young around someone so good.’

“Jackson is still learning the job. He’s probably the only one with that background and those experiences mean he’ll hit the ground running a lot earlier.

“You look at people like Luca Brecel, a great talent, amazing, but look how long it took him to hit the ground.

“Until the age of 26-27-28. Maybe 10 years of getting beaten and beaten. But because he’s so talented, he has obviously got there in the end.

“Jackson Page has got to that point a little bit earlier. He was probably a little bit raw when he first turned pro, like we all are.

“Well, apart from John Higgins who was a different style of player. But we have all had to rein it in.

“Me, I had probably had to rein it in more than Mark and John because I was really ultra-aggressive.

“But Jackson Page has learned. Now he’s looking like the complete player. I think he’s ready to win tournaments.”

O’Sullivan is in the bottom half of the 32-man draw and if he wins over the best of 19 frames, he will face either Barry Hawkins or Ryan Day in round two.

The way the seedings have worked this year is that Luca Brecel, as the defending champion, goes into the pot as No.1.

This means O’Sullivan is on collision course with world No.2 Judd Trump in the last four.

Back on the subject of youth, O’Sullivan reckons the sport is totally different to darts and someone like oche wonderkid Luke Littler – who is only 17 years old – cannot emerge and smash up the elite.

O’Sullivan said: “Snooker is a different sport. There are a lot of in-between shots, a lot of touch-and-feel. Subtleties to the game.

Alamy

“I don’t think there will be a Luke Littler on the snooker circuit. Maybe from China as they have these academies now.

“Like 50-100 kids there, training day-in, day-out, getting good coaching. There could be some great young talent from China.

“But over in the UK, we don’t have academies anymore, we don’t have snooker clubs, we don’t have a grassroots system where they play in junior, amateur or Pro-Am events.

“That’s what me, John and Mark did. We were always playing in competitions from the age of 10-11.

“I played Willie Thorne in Pro-Ams when I was 12 or 13. He might have beaten me but by 14, I had played enough top amateurs and pros that I eventually beat him.

“So, in my mind, I was thought I had the game to compete with these guys. At the age of 14.

“I was learning that trade. But there aren’t those opportunities now in the UK.

“I used go to down to the snooker club. There were about 20-30 players who could make 147s and I’d learn off them.

“Kids these days, they might have a room where they practise on their own but they aren’t up close, watching the likes of John Higgins.”

• Watch the World Snooker Championship live on Eurosport and Discovery+ from April 20-May 6.