RISING snooker star Dylan Emery has been celebrating the biggest triumph of his fledgling career after winning the Romanian Open.

Emery, 16, won four best-of-seven frame matches at the amateur event before beating Israel’s Shachar Ruberg 4-3 to lift the trophy.

Winning in Bucharest came following a tournament invite from European Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Maxime Cassis while playing in Albania earlier this summer.

Emery is coached by former Crucible semi-finalist Darren Morgan at the Red Triangle Snooker Club in Cross Keys and has every intention of turning professional in the near future.

He travelled to Eastern Europe not really knowing what he was going to come up against, with very little prior knowledge of the other competitors.

However, the straight knockout format was much to his liking and the teenager recorded a 4-1 victory over home cueman Stefan Ilinca in the last 32.

There followed two 4-0 whitewashes of Romanians Daniel Bontea and Matei Rosca, after which Emery, from Pontypridd, edged past Serbia’s Marko Stoilkovic 4-3.

That success saw Emery into the final and a showdown with Ruberg, 23, who this year failed in an attempt to gain a place on snooker’s main tour.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I went out there so I just took it one game at a time,” he said. “The standard was better than I thought it would be.

“There was no group stage so I knew that if I played badly in my first match I would be out.

“That first game was tough but I got through it then won two 4-0 and 4-3 in the semi-finals.

“I was 3-1 up in the final but Shachar got it back to 3-3, then I had a 51 break in the decider.

“It was brilliant out there and great to win an international event for the first time.”

Emery has decided to concentrate on snooker full-time after leaving school at the end of the summer term.

He is now in Leeds representing Wales under-16s at the Home Internationals and has several more big events lined up before the end of the year.

His dad, Mark, secretary of Welsh Snooker, added: “Turning pro is a given but he keeps his feet on the floor.

“He practises seven hours a day and is so dedicated.”