Hi °C | Lo °C Ulster race ace Eddie Irvine is helping a budding young snooker player get his career on track by sending him to the under 21 World Snooker Championships.
The Formula One star, estimated to be worth £160m, has sponsored 20-year-old Johnny Kells from the Whitehill estate in Bangor to take part in the competition in India later this month.
The Championships, which are seen as a stepping stone to the professional tour, are being staged in Goa from August 22 to 31. A total of 64 of the best amateurs from 30 different countries will be competing for the £4,000 cash prize and Johnny is confident of doing well.
He told the Belfast Telegraph: "It's a big, big title, if you won it you would turn professional. You would go into the main tour. There are a lot of great players and I am certainly not going there just to make up the numbers. I have been practising really hard and I do believe I have a chance of success."
Johnny, who reached the top 32 in the championships in Bahrain two years ago, practises for up to six hours a day.
He said: "I started playing properly when I was 13 with just a few hours a week at the Clifton snooker club. Now I am playing for Eddie Irvine Sports.
"Eddie knew that I was playing out of his club and he said he would give me a chance to see what I could do.
"I've met him a couple of times. He has been absolutely brilliant. He has paid for me to go to the academy, for my accommodation, for me to go to the Open Series in Wales - so many things.
"I can't thank him enough I am so grateful for the opportunity."
Johnny also had a word of thanks to Linley's of Bangor who ensure he is kitted out in the right attire with waistcoats, bow ties and dinner suits.
Johnny is one of three Northern Irish players taking part in the competition. Antrim's Jordan Brown and Joe Loughran from Cookstown will also be making the journey east.
