LONDON: Snooker great Ronnie O’Sullivan fell behind to James Cahill in the first round of the
World Championship on Monday as the amateur threatened one of the great upsets in the sport’s history.
Cahill, the first amateur to play in the tournament, led five- times world champion O’Sullivan 5-4 at the halfway stage of their first-round match at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in northern England.
The match will resume on Tuesday, with world number one O’Sullivan looking to improve on his below-standard display in the opening session. John Higgins, bidding for a fifth world title came through 10-7 against Mark Davis with the help of breaks of 100, 135 and 132.
Earlier, three-time champion Mark Selby rallied from 5-1 down against China’s Zhao Xintong to end the session 5-3 behind.
The Englishman is looking to end a slump that saw him make first-round exits at both last year’s World Championship and this season’s UK Championship as well as other tournaments, including last month’s Players Championship.
Such problems were far from the mind of Selby’s compatriot Shaun Murphy, who thrashed Chinese teenager Luo Honghao 10-0. Luo’s 89 points saw him take the unwanted record for fewest points in the modern-day history of the World Championship off the hands of England’s Danny ‘The Dustman’ Fowler, who managed 191 in a 10-1 loss to Stephen Hendry in a first-round clash in 1993.
Murphy’s whitewash of Luo was the first at the Crucible since John Parrott beat Australia’s Eddie Charlton 10-0 in 1992.
Murphy now faces Australia’s Neil Robertson, who only dropped a single frame in a 10-1 first-round win.
“After the season I have had, never in my wildest dreams did I think I could come here and win 10-0,” Murphy told World Snooker’s website.
“Going out this morning, it was tough to try to put that potential 10-0 to the back of my mind and try to play the right shots.”
Meanwhile, Luo vowed to return a better player for his chastening loss, saying:
“I was very nervous. I’ve never felt like this before because the Crucible is the dream for every player. It is amazing to get here.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing a match. I was enjoying the place. After this time I want to improve myself, my technique and my skill.” – AFP
