Amateur wildcard Ben Mertens has vowed to enjoy every moment at the BetVictor Shoot Out in Watford after coming through his opening match.

The 14-year-old claimed the biggest shock on the opening day as he defeated former world number three James Wattana to reach the last 64.

Mertens wasn’t expected to cause too many problems for a player 35 years his senior, but the highly-rated youngster didn’t appear to be fazed by the occasion. He built a lead of 29 points at 60-31 against his Thai opponent although he required a shade of luck to get over the line.

Wattana battled back and got within a point at 59-60 before he ran out of time when he just needed to pot the pink to win.

The Belgian, who has been training with compatriot Luca Brecel to prepare for the tournament, couldn’t contain his excitement and has vowed to enjoy the event.

“It’s crazy, it was lovely,” said Mertens. “I just wanted to enjoy the match, but I won. It’s very nice to have a wildcard for this event and I’m looking forward to my next match.

Luca is one of my idols and I learned a lot from playing with him. He told me to enjoy it.”

Brecel can be backed at 1.33 to win his opening-round match on Friday when he faces Farakh Ajaib, who is priced at 3.10 to come out on top.

Meanwhile, Ronnie O’Sullivan has defended his decision not to take part the event – despite travelling to the venue to work as a TV pundit.

O’Sullivan said: “I set myself a thing, I want to play 35 to 40 matches a year. I’m kind of at that point now, so I’ve got to save them up. “I don’t really want to be playing snooker all the time. It doesn’t matter how I do as long as I get 35-40 matches in.”