Shaun Murphy hails Moody after Halifax wonderkid earns spot on World Snooker Tour

Moody, 16, defeated fellow Yorkshire player Liam Pullen 5-1 in the final and will now be on the snooker circuit for the next two seasons.

Former world champion Shaun Murphy, who has mentored the youngster, expressed his delight on Twitter, posting: “A year ago I joined #teamstan to help Stan Moody make it to the @WeAreWST and last night he won the @WorldSnookerFed junior championship and earned a 2 year tour card - I couldn’t be prouder. A huge congratulations to him, his family and the rest of his team on a journey complete.”

Moody lost just one frame in the round-robin phase of the competition, with 3-0 victories over Zac Cosker and Christiano de Azevedo, and a 3-1 success against Devlen Brown.

He followed-up with 4-0 victories over Jayden Dinga and Jake Crofts in the knockout stages before facing a stern test from Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko in the semi-finals.

The Halifax starlet was pushed all the way but crafted a break of 68 to win the deciding frame and secure a 4-3 success.

Moody, who beat Lu Ning in the first round of the Snooker Shoot Out last year, will now take part in the main WSF Championship, in Sydney, which begins on Saturday.