Polish prodigy Antoni Kowalski sends a statement to the World Snooker Tour after he earned his two-year World Snooker Tour ticket for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 snooker seasons at Q-School.
In his final game, he defeated James Cahill, a talent who notably defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan in round one of the 2019 World Snooker Championship.
The 20-year-old took inspiration from a 17-year-old’s run to the 2024 PDC World Championship final on debut, which sent the darting world into a frenzy.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler’s historic run to the final inspired a generation, and Kowalski has high ambitions to achieve the same in snooker.
Antoni Kowalski’s Q-School Success
In a revealing interview with the World Snooker Tour following the confirmation that he would feature on the tour, he stated that he hopes to emulate the generational talent of Littler.
He listed off his two-year ambitions and sent a statement to the rest of the field to keep a close eye on him.
“My goals are pretty high,” he said. “Of course, everyone wants to be World Champion and world number one. For now, I will just try to get into the top 64 and try to stay on the main tour for the rest of my career.
“I am a big fan of darts and Luke Littler opened my eyes. He has reached the final of the World Championship and broken records already.
“He will smash all of the records over the next few years. I want to be exactly like him. I want to be the best. I will continue to level up my game and see how I go.”
Antoni Kowalski’s calm demeanour in matches
In a separate interview, where he was featured on the BBC Framed: The Snooker Podcast, the Zielona Góra-born player described his mindset during his match against Jak Jones at the Championship League, detailing that he doesn’t want to be compared to any rookie coming through before him.
“I am not comparing myself to other players as a rookie, I am there to win,” he said.
“I am not going to back off just because I am playing [recent World Championship runners-up] Jak Jones or Ronnie [O’Sullivan] or anyone.
“I am there to win. I am there to win all the matches, and I am there to win all the tournaments, so I play like any other player.”
As a result of this mindset shift, his calm temperament will allow him not to be phased by any of the top professionals he could face in the future.
He added: “I don’t think so [about whether he feels pressure when playing the top professionals], honestly I don’t know why should it be stressed or feel the pressure on our level, because you’re playing the game, you know how to play and you’re playing the game you love to play.
“Why should you be stressed? There is always someone watching, and the table is always square, round balls and sometimes the cloth is different so why should you be stressed when you’re playing the game you love.”