Teenager Jackson Page showed more signs of becoming a big star in the world of snooker after the 17-year-old secured his place in the last 16 of the Paul Hunter Classic.

The talented Welshman, who world champion Mark Williams rates very highly, recorded four wins on the opening day of the ranking event to seal his place in the final day of the tournament.

The youngster beat Thomas Cesal as well as three professional players including Zhou Yuelong, Ian Burns and Sam Baird on one of his most impressive days in his career.

Born in 2001, Page first made headlines on the snooker circuit in 2016 when he won IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship at the age of 15.

Jackson Page. Picture by Monique Limbos

In 2017, after being given a wildcard entry for his home tournament the Welsh Open – Page caused a couple of upsets to reach the third round of the major ranking before losing to former World Championship finalist Judd Trump 4-0.

Just months later he became one frame away from winning his opening World Championship qualifier but fell agonisingly short losing 10-9 to Martin O’Donnell.

But despite his promise he is still yet to reach professional status and has qualified for this year’s Paul Hunter Classic through the top-up system after his strong performances in Q School.

READ MORE: How Jackson Page became the centre of a heated row between world champion Mark Williams and former professional star Darren Morgan

Page will next face Scotland’s Scott Donaldson on Sunday morning for a place in a major ranking event quarter-final.

Meanwhile, former world champion Peter Ebdon had an impressive day after wins against Ben Jones, Andreas Ploner and Mark King King put him in the last 16 – just days after he was critical of a new ‘slow play’ policy.

But defending champion Michael White will not be winning the event for a second successive time after he crashed out losing 4-1 to China’s Zhang Anda in the Last 32 stage.

Only three of the top 16 players in the world have entered the event, which has a top prize of £20,000 – the lowest jackpot prize in the season calendar. These players are Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson and Luca Brecel with the latter losing to Chris Wakelin in the last 32 stage.

Murphy and Wilson will be the big names competing on Saturday.

The opening day also saw maximum breaks for Snooker Shoot Out winner Michael Georgiou and Welshman Jamie Jones.