Cahill lands opening clash with O’sullivan

Amateur James Cahill has been handed a dream Crucible draw after he was paired against Ronnie O’sullivan at the World Snooker Championships.

The 23-year-old came through qualifying with a superb 10-6 win over Michael Judge to book his place in Sheffield.

His reward is a first-round clash with “The Rocket”, the five-time winner, the world No 1 and almost unbackable favourite.

“This is what dreams are made of,” said World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn as he made the draw.

Thirty-two players will compete for a record prize of £500,000, with defending champion Mark Williams up against Martin Gould.

There are seven debutants this year, Cypriot Michael Georgiou amongst them, and he will face the in-form Neil Robertson.

Other tasty-looking ties include Jack Lisowski against bullish qualifier Ali Carter and Judd Trump against Thepchaiya Un-nooh.

Three-time winner Mark Selby takes on Zhao Xintong. Mark Williams (Wal) v Martin Gould (Eng) David B Gilbert (Eng) v Joe Perry (Eng) Barry Hawkins (Eng) v Li Hang (Chn) Kyren Wilson (Eng) v Scott Donaldson (Sco) John Higgins (Sco) v Mark Davis (Eng) Stuart Bingham (Eng) v Graeme Dott (Sco) Shaun Murphy (Eng) v Luo Honghao (Chn) Neil Robertson (Aus) v Michael Georgiou (Cyp)