Amateur Rhys Clark will face the biggest name in snooker when he plays world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the williamhill.com UK Championship. He tells STEVE CARROLL he can’t wait to meet the Rocket at the Barbican.

CLOCKING that Rhys Clark hails from the little Scottish town of Larkhall, it felt obligatory to quiz the teenager on the baize masters to have come from north of the border.

Stephen Hendry, John Higgins – a pair with 11 world titles between them – ruled snooker with an iron hand as the 19-year-old grew to love the game as a child.

The town even has its own world champion. Graeme Dott, who grabbed the Crucible crown in 2006, is probably its most famous resident.

But although Clark’s first memories of potting greatness were watching Higgins win in Sheffield in 2007, it is not he, or Hendry, or even Dott, who has first place in his affections.

“I do like to watch Ronnie O’Sullivan,” he said. “I am playing my favourite player.”

The left-hander has both the best, and worst, of the draw when he takes on the Rocket at the Barbican a week tomorrow.

While it is highly unlikely the youngster, an amateur who is looking to break through onto the professional circuit, will take down the five-time world champion – ending his tournament at the first round stage – he also recognises it is a fantastic chance to get his name in lights with the BBC TV cameras watching on.

“I knew I was going to get a big name but to draw Ronnie – it doesn’t get any bigger than that,” Clark said. “I am pretty excited to get to play him.

“I’ve never played him before, and the biggest player I played before him was Judd Trump.

“I am going into the match with confidence in my own ability. I’ve not got the experience and I don’t expect to beat him. I’ve only had a few games against the top players so I am really looking forward to the experience.”

If Clark can quickly drink in the scene of a packed arena, and overcome the nerves that are bound to jangle, the audience could be in for a great game.

Everyone knows how O’Sullivan likes to play, but Clark revealed he also favours a resolutely attacking approach.

“I am going to play as I would anyway,” he added.

“I am sure I will learn a few things from him and I have just got to tackle the match as I would against any other player. I’ve no special game plan. I like to get in and around the black and make very big breaks. My safety is okay but I do like to pot balls.

“I know if Ronnie goes for a pot he is going to get it so if I get my chances I need to take them. I am not going to get too many of them.

“I have never played in that sort of big arena. There will be a lot of attention but this is what all our sort of players have to go through.

“It is a bit daunting but, when it happens, I will be all right after a frame or two. It’s the best of 11 – you have got an interval – so you can have a bad first few frames, can clear your head and come back a different player.”

The O’Sullivan clash will also mean Clark will have played both of the World Championship finalists in just a few months, with Barry Hawkins having bested him 6-1 in the first round of the International Championship earlier in the season.

For Clark, who only narrowly failed to grab his tour card at Q-School last spring, these kind of encounters provide vital experience as he continues on the journey to becoming a fully-fledged professional.

They were hugely unlikely match-ups until World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn revamped tournament structures for many of the game’s ranking tournaments – meaning 128 players enter at the first round stage at York.

Clark is well aware of that and knows meeting O’Sullivan will show him how much he still needs to learn.

He explained: “It’s a lot better now. You can enter and start at the beginning of a tournament. We all have the same number of games to get to the final and you can also get to play the top players.

“You could go a season without playing a big name a few years back and this will be a big test. It will show me where I am in comparison to what he is like. It’s the biggest game of my career. Definitely.”