Polish 20-year-old Antoni Kowalski claimed that snooker's new generation is ready to take over, after scoring a whitewash 4-0 win over He Guoqiang on day two of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
The tour rookie earned a maiden spell on the circuit after coming through Q School earlier this year. That came after he had already narrowly missed out on a tour card following defeat to Liam Davies in the 2024 European Under-21 final. He's only the third ever Polish professional.
Today's impressive victory saw Kowalski fire in breaks of 51 and 76 to secure a third round tie against Wu Yize. Afterwards, he expressed his excitement to be competing alongside a legion of talented young professionals.
“We will be trying to set records. I think this is the time that the new generation comes up to kick out Ronnie and other players. Ronnie has to end sometime, he is already in his late 40s. We will try our best for sure," said Kowalski.
“I am delighted to have played on the TV table finally. I’ve played on it once before, but that was during Covid so nobody was watching. It was perfect today and I’d like to play that way every single day. That is when I play my best snooker.”
Hungarian 17-year-old rookie Bulcsu Revesz also scored a huge victory after beating the experienced Mark Davis 4-3. Breaks of 51 and 84 helped Revesz through to a meeting with former Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown.
Stan Moody prevailed 4-1 against his former rival from the junior ranks Liam Pullen. The pair met in the 2023 WSF Junior Championship final, when Moody came through to earn his place among the professional ranks. Breaks of 52 and 78 helped him to another win and a third round clash with Ryan Day.
Hong Kong's three-time ranking event winner Marco Fu was a 4-0 whitewash victor against Liam Davies. The 46-year-old top scored with 123 and now faces Lyu Haotian.
Welshman Andrew Pagett prevailed 4-3 in a tense encounter with Swiss number one Alexander Ursenbacher, winning the last two frames to progress. Pagett now faces six-time ranking event finalist Jack Lisowski.
