Amateur qualifier pulls off historic upset win over world No.1 Ronnie O'Sullivan

The first amateur to make an appearance in the main draw at the World Snooker Championship has added to his history-making week with one of the sport's greatest upsets.

Last week James Cahill barely scraped through his first qualifying match, winning 10-9.

Two more wins and seven days later, the 23-year-old has knocked world No.1 Ronnie O'Sullivan out of the event with a 10-8 victory at the Crucible Theatre.

O'Sullivan, who has already won the UK, Players and Tour Championships this season, was the favourite to win his sixth World Championship crown.

But he looked out of sorts throughout the first half against Cahill on Monday, when he trailed 5-4 at the interval.

Cahill rarely looked in awe of his fancied opponent and came back after trailing 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 before winning frame nine.

When play resumed in the morning the 43-year-old O'Sullivan, who shaved his hair off overnight, was almost powerless to stop his young rival.

The veteran reduced Cahill's lead to 8-6 with the first century of the match and levelled it at 8-8.

But a miss in the 17th helped Cahill end his drought as he eventually secured his greatest win.

It is the first time O'Sullivan has been knocked out of the World Championship in the first round since 2003.

Australian Neil Robertson, the fourth seed, was a comfortable winner in the first round, easing past qualifier Michael Georgiou 10-1.

He will face 13th seed Shaun Murphy in the second round.

with agencies