At an age when most toddlers still wrestle with building blocks, Jude Owens already controls angles, cushions and pressure. The two-year-old from Manchester has written his name into the Guinness World Records book twice, becoming the youngest person ever to complete both a bank shot and a double pot. The feats came just weeks apart, a blink of an eye in sporting terms, yet enough to place Jude among the youngest double record holders the sport has ever seen.
The first landmark arrived on 12 October, when Jude nailed a pool bank shot at just two years and 302 days old. Five weeks earlier, he had already stunned onlookers by pulling off a snooker double pot at 261 days past his second birthday. These aren't novelty taps or staged tricks; they demand touch, spatial awareness and a feel for the table that many players chase for years. For Jude, they came before preschool.
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His father Luke spotted the spark early at home, where snooker quickly became Jude's favourite pastime. With bar stools (and later a kitchen stool) standing in for extra inches of height, Jude learned to grip the cue naturally, threading it through his fingers with ease. Luke, himself a player since the age of 10, admits the uncomfortable truth every sporting parent eventually faces: his son might simply have more raw ability.
The records have already opened doors. Jude received a special walk-on at the 2025 UK Championship and has become the youngest-known player to land a sponsorship in the sport. At home, he balances snooker balls with football dreams, cheering for Manchester United and idolising Bruno Fernandes. Ask him who would win a match between father and son, though, and the answer comes without hesitation. "Me."