Throughout O'Sullivan's debut season, he won 74 of his 76 qualifying matches. This included a winning streak of 38 successive victories, surpassing the previous record held by Stephen Hendry and a record quick victory, winning a best-of-9-frame match in 43 minutes to beat Tony Drago's previous record. After this performance, MC Alan Hughes first gave him the nickname "The Rocket". O'Sullivan also won his first title as a professional: the non-ranking Extra Challenge in Bangkok, triumphing over John Parrott, James Wattana and Alan McManus in the round-robin format. O'Sullivan qualified for the World Championship and made his debut at the Crucible Theatre on 18 April 1993, at the age of 17 years and 134 days and he is still the fourth-youngest player ever to compete at the venue, behind Luca Brecel, Yan Bingtao and Stephen Hendry. He lost 7–10 to Alan McManus in the first round. O'Sullivan was named the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's (WPBSA) Young Player of the Year for 1993.