page_title: James Cahill (snooker player)
section_title: 2014/2015
hierarchical_section_title: James Cahill (snooker player) / Career / 2014/2015
caption_attribution_description: James Cahill beim Paul Hunter Classic 2014
context_page_description: James Cahill is an English snooker player from Blackpool. Cahill first turned professional in 2013, aged 17, after winning the European Under 21 Championships, but returned to amateur status in 2017.
  As an amateur, Cahill reached the main stage of the 2019 World Snooker Championship, becoming the first amateur player ever to qualify for the event. At the tournament, he defeated world number one and five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–8 in their first round match. O'Sullivan was the second former world number one Cahill had defeated in the 2018–19 snooker season, after his victory over Mark Selby at the 2018 UK Championship. Cahill qualified for a new two-year tour card via the one-year money-list after the 2018/2019 season. He rejoined the professional tour in June 2019.
context_section_description: Cahill's second season saw him improve his results as he twice reached the last 32 in the minor-ranking European Tour events. At 18-years-old, he then went on his best run to date in a ranking event during the 2014 UK Championship. He won comfortably in the first round, beating veteran Mark King 6–0 and then saw off former Welsh Open finalist Andrew Higginson 6–4. Cahill faced world number three Ding Junhui, a player who had won five ranking titles the previous season, and raced into a 5–1 lead. Ding won three frames in a row and needed three snookers in the next frame, which he got when Cahill left a free ball. Cahill responded by taking the deciding frame to record the biggest victory of his career up to that point.
  In the last 16 of the championships, Cahill commented he "couldn't believe how badly [he] had played" after his tournament ended with a 2–6 loss to Mark Davis. Cahill would have a poor end to the season as he lost seven out of eight matches after this which would have relegated him from the tour as he finished 85th in the world rankings. However, his performance in the European Tour events saw him finish high enough on the European Order of Merit to retain his spot on the tour for the following two seasons.
caption: 2014 Paul Hunter Classic
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