Hungarian teenager Bulcsu Revesz has already made snooker history and the talented rookie is confident that he can make plenty more over many years to come as a professional.
The 17-year-old won his place on the World Snooker Tour earlier this year, becoming the first ever professional from Hungary.
He arrived with a good reputation as a bright young talent and one that has done extremely well to shine having emerged from the snooker backwater of Herceghalom, a village to the west of Budapest.
Revesz promptly proved that there is plenty of promise to his play in the pros, walloping experienced campaigner David Grace 5-0 in the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers.
That win will likely book him a match with Ronnie O’Sullivan in Xi’an (if the Rocket can beat world number 108 Wang Yuchen in his opener) and Revesz is not feeling daunted.
Asked if he is confident going into the game, Revesz told Metro: ‘Yes I am. 100 per cent. I’m looking forward to it.’
The youngster has a natural confidence about him and he feels it is a strength of his, saying: ‘I think so. I don’t feel any fear inside me. If you ask me who I want to play in any of the tournaments I would say Ronnie. I’m here to enjoy it as much as I can.’
Revesz knows he has plenty of learning to come, but feels ready and prepared for the rigors of the pro tour, pleased to have already done well without necessarily hitting top form.
‘Yeah [I’m ready],’ he said. ‘I think I wasn’t even playing well against Sean O’Sullivan in the World Championships and I won. But it wasn’t the brave and attacking game I would like to play. It took effect against David Grace. I was going for many balls I wasn’t going for some months ago. I feel 100 per cent ready now.
‘I felt comfortable, it was so good. I forced him to miss. I was playing excellent safety. He missed long pots and left me chances. I was playing brave, but still clever. I think I only missed four balls. I felt I was flying, but still not my best.’
The rising Hungarian star has been limited to playing behind closed doors in his pro life so far, but he cannot wait to get out in front of a big crowd, which will certainly be the case if he faces the Rocket.
Watch Bulcsu talk through his interests away from snooker and why he never wants a nickname.
The teenager does have experience of showing his skills in front of a big audience, playing in big exhibitions in Hungary since he was very young against the world’s best.
‘They had six exhibitions with the absolute top players,’ he explained. ‘The last one was Ronnie and Mark Allen, that was a great exhibition. The first one was in 2017. I have three friends who used to take care of them. It was really great to play in them, with Judd [Trump] and John Higgins, Ronnie, Mark. 1,500 people were there, so even bigger than the Crucible!
‘I love playing in front of the crowd. Even when I was 10 in 2017, I Ioved it. Against Neil [Robertson]. I made 9! I was nervous but you have to be a little bit nervous, there’s a positive kind of nerves that you have to have to play your best.’
Revesz is a cool customer, but he is not denying that playing O’Sullivan would be extremely special for him, although the Rocket is not the only fellow player he admires.
‘He is a hero of mine, surely. I spoke to him a little bit in the exhibition, not too much, but I think he liked me. I think I have a similar style on and off the table. I hope I’m going to have many occasions to talk to him in future,’ he said.
‘I feel like my style is similar to him, but that’s just natural, it looks a bit like his style. Attacking, free-flowing. I don’t think I will stop doing that. I don’t think there’s a positive or negative connection between playing style and results. I’ll just keep on doing the same thing.
‘Ronnie was always my favourite, of course, but growing up you change mentally and I had different players that I liked. I used to like Shaun [Murphy], he was one of my favourites two or three years ago, David Gilbert too, he’s great to watch, now it’s Mark Williams and Gary Wilson, I think he’s got a brilliant head for the game. He’s such a clever player, I just like the way he plays.’
Revesz is set to move to Sheffield permanently with his father in September, sad to leave his mother back in Hungary, but focussed on his snooker career with the unbending support of his dad.
It is a long way from Herceghalom, but it is an inevitable move as the teenager has long been struggling for adequate practice partners in Budapest on his snooker journey so far.
‘I think I was seven when I first saw snooker on television,’ he explained. ‘Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire were playing a best of nine, I still remember that.
‘I started to play pool, but I was interested in snooker. I changed from pool as soon as I could to snooker. From the age of eight I was playing three times a week, six or seven hours. I was just enjoying it.
‘I think in a practice routine I made my first century just after my 10th birthday. Everyone said I’m so talented after my first coaching sessions at eight or nine years old. I knew I wanted it to be my career.
‘I think playing people in the club helped me improve until the age of 13 from those players in Hungary, learning from them. I could play with a handicap, 70 or 80 points behind. But without a handicap I couldn’t really get any improvement from them from about 13 years old. I had to travel more after that.’
Revesz has his trip to Xi’an coming up, followed by the big money Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, thrilled by the prospect of both huge events.
He is not trying to set himself too many targets so early in his career, though, hoping to enjoy every match, which will see him produce his best in the process.
‘I just want to play and enjoy the game,’ he said. ‘I’m sure that’s the right way to play this game.
‘I would like to feel like an experienced pro by my second year. Try my best all the time, try to win every match I play. That’s all.’
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