Ben Mertens

Ben Mertens (born 13 October 2004) is a Belgian snooker player. He won the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships in 2018.

Ben Mertens
Born (2004-10-13) 13 October 2004
Sport country Belgium
NicknameTintin
Career winnings£1,100
Highest break126:
2019 Q School – Event 1
Century breaks1
Best ranking finishLast 64 (2018 Paul Hunter Classic, 2019 Snooker Shoot-Out)

Career

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]

In March 2020 he lost in the semi-finals of the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships to later champion Aaron Hill.[5]

In July 2020 he won the first round of the World Championship qualifiers, becoming the youngest player ever to have won a match in the World Championships.

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20
Ranking[6][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
German Masters A LQ A
Shoot-Out A 2R A
World Championship A A LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Paul Hunter Classic Rank. Event 1R
Former ranking tournaments
Paul Hunter Classic LQ 2R NR
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 Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. He was an amateur.

Career finals

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2018 World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships Aaron Hill 4–3

Notes
  1. "België heeft een wereldkampioen snooker: Ben Mertens (13) wint WK U16". Sporza.be. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  2. 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.
  3. "Veertienjarig snookertalent Ben Mertens zet Michael White een hak op Pro-Am snooker". Het Nieuwsblad. Belga. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  4. "Teenager Ben Mertens stuns James Wattana at Snooker Shoot Out in Watford". Sky Sports. 22 February 2019.
  5. "European Snooker Championships U21 - Albufeira / Portugal 2020". EBSA. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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