YORK snooker star Ashley Hugill has secured his first appearance at the World Championship main draw after a qualifying victory over Joe O'Connor.
Hugill beat O'Connor 10-7 to book his place in tomorrow's draw (11am) and earn himself a debut at the Crucible, with the sport's showpiece event getting underway on Saturday.
The world number 77 made a match-high 112 break in just frame two but fell 3-1 behind early on against O'Connor.
Hugill fought back to win all of the next six frames, the latter of which featured another century (107) to move 7-3 in front.
Momentum then swung the way of the Leicester man as O'Connor hit three successive half-centuries en route to closing the gap to 7-6.
But Hugill dug in and won three of the last four frames, all of which were claimed by narrow margins, to secure a first World Championship main draw appearance after five previous unsuccessful attempts through qualifying.
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