Ronnie O’Sullivan in control against He Guoqiang of China in the first round of the World Snooker Championship

Liam Pullen left the World Snooker Tour at the end of last season but regained his tour card after a few weeks at Q School.

The 20-year-old from York is ranked 86th in the world and had to battle through four qualifying rounds to make his Crucible debut.

Before the tournament began, he described how, aged 12, he had watched the 2018 final between Mark Williams and Higgins and been “starstruck” by a chance encounter with the Scot at Pizza Express.

But if he was feeling any nerves, Pullen didn’t show them, as he made breaks of 57, 63, 97, and 58, although he still found himself 4-5 behind last year’s quarterfinalist, fellow Englishman Chris Wakelin.

Wakelin, aided by breaks of 66 and 82, secured a one-frame advantage with the match scheduled for 10:00 on Wednesday.

However, Pullen can take pride in his performance, which adds to the positive trend for young English players, following 19-year-old Stan Moody’s impressive showing against 2024 champion Kieran Wilson, where he narrowly lost 10-7 on Monday.