Video - 8 year-old snooker prodigy so small he has to stand on vegetable crate to play the game set to become TV star in America

Little Westley Cooper has played snooker since he was six and always stands on a box to pot his shots.

The youngster, known as “The Wee Man”, has played world famous players including former world champion Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Mark Williams in prestigious open tournaments across the UK. And now talent spotters in USA scouting for a new television programme for the NBC network. Little Big Shots will be produced by comics Ellen DeGeneres and Stephen Harvey and feature snooker whizz-kids aged from two to 12 from around the world. TV bosses spotted the schoolboy wowing large audiences with his pots and trick shots on videos posted onto YouTube. And talent scout Carl Pocket contacted Westley’s family, of New Parks, Leicester, last week to entice them to California for the show and get paid a cool USD1,500 (£970). Yesterday (Mon), Westley said: “I am over the moon about it. I would love to make it to the programme.”