Ben Mertens
Ben Mertens (born 13 October 2004) is a Belgian snooker player. He won the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships in 2018.
| Born | 13 October 2004 |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Belgium |
| Career winnings | £1,100 |
| Highest break | 126: 2019 Q School – Event 1 |
| Century breaks | 1 |
| Best ranking finish | Last 64 (2018 Paul Hunter Classic, 2019 Snooker Shoot-Out) |
CareerEdit
Ben Mertens is from Wetteren. When he was 12 years old, he reached the 2nd round of the 2017 EBSA European Under-18 Snooker Championship. At the 2018 EBSA European Under-18 Snooker Championship he got to the quarter finals, where he lost from the later champion Jackson Page.
He won the Belgian U18 championship in 2018.[1] In August 2018 he played in a professional ranking tournament for the first time, and beat Adam Stefanow in the first round of the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic.[2]
In October 2018, when he was thirteen years old, he won the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships, becoming the first male Belgian snooker world champion (Wendy Jans is a multiple winner of the senior women's world championship).[2]
In January 2019, he defeated Michael White, then ranked #36 in the world, at a snooker tournament in Bruges.[3]
At the 2019 Snooker Shoot-Out, a ranking tournament for which he got a wild card, he beat James Wattana in the first round.[4]
Performance and rankings timelineEdit
| Tournament | 2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[5][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | |||||
| Ranking tournaments | ||||||||
| Riga Masters | A | A | A | |||||
| International Championship | A | A | A | |||||
| China Championship | A | A | A | |||||
| English Open | A | A | ||||||
| World Open | A | A | ||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | A | A | ||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | ||||||
| Scottish Open | A | A | ||||||
| European Masters | A | A | ||||||
| German Masters | A | LQ | ||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | ||||||
| Shoot-Out | A | 2R | ||||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||
| Gibraltar Open | A | A | ||||||
| Tour Championship | NH | DNQ | ||||||
| China Open | A | A | ||||||
| World Championship | A | A | ||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | Rank. Event | 1R | ||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | ||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | LQ | 2R | NR | |||||
| Indian Open | A | A | NH | |||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. | |||
Career finalsEdit
Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)Edit
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 2018 | World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships |  Aaron Hill
|
4–3 |
NotesEdit
- ^ "België heeft een wereldkampioen snooker: Ben Mertens (13) wint WK U16". Sporza.be. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ a b Luysterborg, Peter (6 October 2018). "België heeft voor het eerst een wereldkampioen snooker: Ben Mertens, amper 13 (!), wint bloedstollende finale". Het Laatste Nieuws. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ "Veertienjarig snookertalent Ben Mertens zet Michael White een hak op Pro-Am snooker". Het Nieuwsblad. Belga. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ "Teenager Ben Mertens stuns James Wattana at Snooker Shoot Out in Watford". Sky Sports. 22 February 2019.
- ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.