Amateur James Cahill pulls out plum Crucible draw against Ronnie O’Sullivan
Now the 23-year-old from Blackpool is hoping to cause a huge upset after landing a first-round tie with world No 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Betfred World Championship.
Cahill had to come through three tough qualifying matches simply to earn his coveted place at the Crucible.
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Hide AdHe was one of 16 qualifiers pitted against the top 16 seeds in Thursday’s draw, but Cahill - who has previously beaten the likes of Mark Selby and Ding Junhui at the UK Championship in York, and previously played on the pro tour - has his sights set high.
“To be the first amateur at the Crucible is not something I’m proud of as I see myself as a professional,” he said.
“It is a record though and I am happy to break records if I can.
“It is nice just to get through this year and now hopefully it will now get easier for the rest of my career and eventually I can get into the world’s top 16 and won’t even have to qualify.”
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Hide AdCahill’s match against the five-times world champion O’Sullivan will start on Monday, before finishing on Tuesday.
Defending champion Mark Williams faces Martin Gould in the opening match on Saturday.
While Sheffield has not produced a Crucible competitor, six Chinese players – all based in the Steel City – are in the 32-man field.
World No 10 Ding Junhui has lived in Sheffield since moving from China as a teenager.
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Hide AdAnd he has been followed to South Yorkshire by the likes of Zhao Xintong, Zhou Yuelong and Li Hang - who all train at Sheffield’s Vic Snooker Academy - plus Tian Pengfei and Luo Honghao, who play at the city’s Star Snooker Academy.
All six were in yesterday’s draw, meaning a record six Chinese players at the Crucible this year, beating the previous best of five in 2017.
First-round draw: Mark Williams v Martin Gould, David Gilbert v Joe Perry, Barry Hawkins v Li Hang, Kyren Wilson v Scott Donaldson, John Higgins v Mark Davis, Stuart Bingham v Graeme Dott, Shaun Murphy v Luo Honghao, Neil Robertson v Michael Georgiou, Mark Selby v Zhao Xintong, Luca Brecel v Gary Wilson, Jack Lisowski v Ali Carter, Mark Allen v Zhou Yuelong, Judd Trump v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Ding Junhui v Anthony McGill, Stephen Maguire v Tian Pengfei, Ronnie O’Sullivan v James Cahill.