Fife pool ace Billy Underwood Jnr helps Scotland B under-18s win European team crown

​After helping the Scottish teenagers – also including captain Logan Davidson, Daniel Reilly, Becca Gibb, Ryan Erskine and Sam Millar - qualify from a group including under-18 and under-23 opposition from Northern Ireland and Wales, Underwood Jnr won four and lost just one of his matches as the Scots won 13-7 in the final against Northern Ireland under-18s.

"This is by far the biggest thing Billy has ever won in pool,” said the teenager’s dad Billy Snr. “He can now call himself a European champion, which is unreal.

"The reception he got when he came home and with people messaging him and congratulating him has been fantastic.

"They also give him a bit of stick when he does miss a ball now! They’re like: ‘I would have thought a European champion would have potted that!’

"But he’s loving it, he’s over the moon.

"Billy has always been a potter. He’s always been able to pot from anywhere really and he has a lot of white ball control.

"Billy’s team were major underdogs because they are inexperienced players and it was their manager Kevin Gibb’s first time managing as their original manager backed out at the last minute.

"Because Billy is autistic, playing takes a lot out of him mentally.

"He was having thoughts of: ‘I’m not good enough’ when he was losing a couple of frames here and there, so I spent time picking him up and trying to get him motivated.

"By the final he gave absolutely everything he had left, and he absolutely smashed it and played his best game of the week.

"He was buzzing, he met a lot of talented players and made some great friends.”

Underwood Jnr – who is coached by Jamie Simpson and Brian Thomson – also reached the last 16 of the singles event in Coleraine’s The Lodge Hotel after two wins, with this competition ultimately being won by his team-mate Erskine, of Dunfermline.

This weekend, Underwood Jnr will be back in competitive action at ‘The Supers’ county team event being held at McGoldrick’s Pool & Sports Bar in Glasgow.

"I’m in the same team as Billy,” Underwood Snr added. “It’s called the Levenmouth A team.

“There will be 15 players for Levenmouth alone and this will be the first time Billy has played for his county which is weird, because he played for his country before that.”