Up-and-coming snooker player Jamie Clarke is ready to set out on his bid to turn professional.

Jamie, 20, from Llanelli, is set to fly out to Romania to take part in the World Under-21s Championship – a tournament that could help him on his way to entering the professional ranks.

It will be the third time in as many years Jamie, who practises at Snooker World in Ammanford, has attempted to shake of his amateur shackles.

Last season he was only a hair’s breadth away from making it pro only to lose to Chinese talent Zhang Anda 4-3 in a Q school shoot-out.

“I was devastated by that to be honest but I picked myself up and I’m ready to go again,” said Jamie, who as a 15-year-old beat off 20,000 other young snooker players to take Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Future Stars title.

“The game is so ruthless. I won six games on the trot but I lost the seventh 4-3 and once you lose you have to start back from scratch.”

He has played in World Championship qualification rounds last season only to lose to fellow Welshman Ryan Day 10-7, Jamie’s longest game to date.

“I am now practicing five to six hours a day. I’m on a good diet of rice and chicken and I’m running around 7km around three days a week - any per cent you can get in these long tournaments.

“Because some of these tournament you can play 14 matches over two weeks. So it is mentally and physically draining. It is quite enduring.

“I’m not super fit but I’m getting there as we build for the season.

“Little things can happen in matches that can really affect you so it’s about being the best prepared you can be, getting that extra percentage to help you over the line.

“You have to earn your right to become a professional.”

There are five ways Jamie can become a professional during the coming season. If he wins any one of the World Amateur Championship, World Under-21s Championship, European Men’s Championship then that can be his ticket to the professional world.

Or he can qualify at the Q School in Burton-on-Trent in May by winning six matches. There are also chances by playing in six Players Tour Championships throughout the season.

He certainly has the pedigree to make it. Already he has a maximum break of 147 under his belt in practice and his highest tournament break is 142. He has also won all the underage Welsh snooker titles.

This was after Terry Griffiths gave him a scholarship when he was nine. “Terry saw something in me,” said Jamie.

He has also had great feedback from another world champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan. “Ronnie said that I had an exceptionally good head on me, and said my safety was good and to keep going.”

Jamie turns 21 in October by which time he hopes to have come of age as a snooker player.

“I know I’m that I’m giving myself the best chance possible to achieve my dream,” he added.