Longford 13-year-old to compete in snooker tour event

A 13-year-old from Longford will compete in the World Snooker Tour's Shoot Out tournament in December, it has been confirmed.

Joe Shannon will become the youngest Irish player to ever compete in a tour event, when he takes part in the quickfire tournament from 4-7 December in Leicester.

Shannon is the current Irish Under-16 champion and is being coached by former player Fergal O'Brien.

A second Irish amateur has also been included.

Joel Connolly, 17, from Northern Ireland is among the eight picks by world governing body the WPBSA. He is also an Irish underage champion.

The tournament began the career of now 17-year-old Stan Moody, who is part of the main tour.

Shaun Liu became the youngest winner of a televised ranking match, aged 13.

Last year Mark Allen won the event, which is unique in the calendar.

All matches are played over a maximum of ten minutes, and a shot clock of 15 seconds for the first five minutes and ten seconds for the last five.