Riley Powell has become so good at snooker even his school teachers let him out of lessons to practise. The 14-year-old, who lives on a modest housing estate in Tredegar with his mum Emma, dad Stephen, and his brother and sister spends almost 40 hours a week on a table he could hardly see over not too long ago.
“I used to wear polystyrene shoes so I could reach the table to pot them,” Riley told us, fitting an interview into a ridiculously busy schedule of school and snooker. “I knew people were saying I was a good player when I started at Mark Williams’ Snooker Club down the road but I think I realised about a year after I’d been playing there.”
Good is an understatement. Tredegar Comp student Riley dispatched five-time ranking event winner and world number eight Kyren Wilson in the Shoot Out 2023 tournament last week – his first ever senior competition – and he’s been the talk of the town since. “I feel like I’ve shaken a thousand people’s hands to be honest with you,” he laughed. “It’s been nice. They’ve just said: ‘Well done’ and told me how I’ve made the town proud.”
