The 14-year-old gunning for O'Sullivan's Crucible record

Michal Szubarczyk is being tipped for stardom

Michal Szubarczyk. Remember the name.

The 14-year-old is hoping to make history this week by breaking Ronnie O'Sullivan's long-standing record by becoming the youngest player to qualify for the World Championship at the Crucible.

The Pole has been making waves on the snooker circuit, winning the U16 and U18 European Championship titles in March.

But the teenager really caught the eye by reaching the final of the open-age event, where he was beaten by 34-year-old Liam Highfield.

That remarkable run was enough for Szubarczyk to be offered a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour (WST).

His performances earned praise from three-time world champion Mark Williams, who said the teenager was "not far away" from the level of O'Sullivan at the same age.

Now Szubarczyk is aiming to break O'Sullivan's 33-year record by qualifying for the 2025 World Championship.

Seven-time winner O'Sullivan is the youngest-ever qualifier at the Crucible, doing so at the age of 16 in 1992. With qualifying held months in advance of the tournament proper, he was then 17 years and five months old when he made his debut at the event, losing 10-7 to Alan McManus.

Former champion Luca Brecel holds the record for the youngest player at the Crucible's main event, playing at the age of 17 years and 45 days in 2012.

Szubarczyk can comfortably beat both of those records as he heads into qualifying at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on 8 April, with final-round matches being played on 15 April.

The Pole faces Scotland's Dean Young in the first round, with the winner of the best-of-19-frames tie going through to face Stan Moody.

The teenager needs to win four consecutive matches to earn a spot at the Crucible.

But a victory against Young would mean Szubarczyk becomes the youngest player to win a qualifying match at the World Championship, beating the record previously held by Liam Davies, who was 15 years and 277 days old when he beat Aaron Hill in 2022.

How qualifying works

The qualifying event at the English Institute of Sport features 144 players.

They are hoping to secure one of the 16 places on offer at the 32-player tournament, with 16 players already automatically qualified via their ranking.

There are four qualifying rounds and players begin their campaigns at different points depending on their world ranking.