I gave up snooker career after facing teenage Ronnie O’Sullivan, turned to pool and can now achieve feat that has eluded The Rocket

talkSPORT's Andy Goldstein says he will be living out his 'boyhood dream' at the US Open Pool Championship this summer.

The Drivetime host - and top pool player, in case you didn't know - was left stunned when Matchroom president Barry Hearn invited him to showcase his talent in Atlantic City in August.

This isn't the first time Goldstein has picked up a cue in a professional setting, though.

After being gifted a Steve Davis pool table for Christmas as a eight-year-old and watching snooker star Jimmy White on TV in the 1980s, Goldstein became obsessed with both sports.

And at 15 he was the best snooker player in school and at his local club in Essex. That's until a certain someone turned up.

Speaking to marvelbet369.com after playing nine-ball pool against former Premier League striker Troy Deeney - who is also competing in a pool competition - Goldstein recalled: "I was head and shoulders above everyone [at snooker].

"Then this little pipsqueak called Ronnie O’Sullivan turns up and goes ‘Ill play ya!’ and I was just blown away by him. He was probably as good then as he is now. That’s not an exaggeration. He’s a genius."

'I played against Ronnie O'Sullivan' is something Goldstein has mentioned just a few times on talkSPORT - so much so he joked it was the equivalent of Carl Froch telling people he fought George Groves in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley.

But what listeners may not know is that former school mate O'Sullivan partly helped Goldstein see he was destined to follow another path away from snooker.

“I wanted to be a professional snooker player as a kid and it was only when I saw what was needed I thought ‘I’m no where near it’."

It was then that he discovered the pool tables upstairs at the club he was playing in. The rest, they say, is history.

Goldstein went on to play in the pool Nations League, the Super League and also won his district. He was even ranked as no.32 in the UK.

Now, he has the chance to win £75,000 if he is crowned champion in Atlantic City, the glitzy city in New Jersey known for its boardwalk, casinos and once upon a time, the host of some of boxing's biggest fights.

When asked how he felt to be invited by Hearn, he said: "It was amazing, it’s a boyhood dream. Honestly, I absolutely love playing. I’m a bit arrogant so much as to say I can win it. 

"But if you play in the US Open in any field, that’s just, wow. So when he asked me I was just blown away. It’s my childhood dream."

And whilst O'Sullivan may have pipped him as snooker's top dog at school, Goldstein - now known as 'Gailforce Goldstein' in a nod to his hero Jimmy White 'The Whirlwind' - joked this summer offers the chance to get one up on his old pal.

He said: “I don’t think O’Sullivan has played in the US Open and he’s won the world championships numerous times, right. But who cares?

"He’ll win his eighth world title and I’ll bring home my US Open title!"

And he'll do it whilst having the best hair in the Boardwalk Empire, too.