James Cahill reaches round three of Cazoo World Championship qualifying

The 27-year-old from Marton reached the penultimate stage with a 10-6 victory over Chinese teenager Lei Peifan at the English Institute of Sport on Saturday.

It was a second victory of the week for Cahill, after he had seen off Stephen Hendry in the opening round on Wednesday.

Cahill had led 5-4 at the end of a high-quality opening session on Friday afternoon.

Lei took two of the first three frames with breaks of 128 and 73, either side of Cahill’s 100 which got him on the board.

Breaks of 52 and 64 headlined a three-frame spurt which put Cahill 4-2 ahead, only for Lei to take the next two with a run of 70 in frame seven

However, Cahill took the last of the session with a break of 50 in kickstarting a run of five consecutive frames to move 9-4 in front.

Lei, who had compiled a half-century in a losing cause during frame 12, then responded by winning the next two.

A break of 57 was followed by a match-high 137 as he closed to within three frames at 9-6.

Any hopes of a further fightback were ended as Cahill claimed the 16th frame to book his place at the next stage.

He now meets another Chinese player, three-time ranking event runner-up Zhou Yuelong in round three.

That match begins on Monday morning and will be played to a conclusion in the evening.