James Cahill reveals snub from ‘uncle’ Stephen Hendry in budding snooker career

James Cahill is making his Snooker World Championship debut on Monday but having Stephen Hendry as his auntie’s ex-husband has not proved to be any help at all.

Cahill has become the first amateur to make it to the Crucible after three impressive wins over Andrew Higginson, Michael Holt and Michael Judge took him through the grueling qualification process.

The 23-year-old has had a remarkable career so far, breaking onto the main tour at just 17-years-old before dropping off again as he struggled for results.

He is now preparing to take on Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round in Sheffield, but his famous snooker connection has not given him a helping hand.

When asked if Hendry had influenced Cahill’s career, the youngster replied: ‘He was married to my Auntie. Not really, I’ve asked him to help me a couple of times but he just didn’t seem interested, to put it bluntly.

‘I owe everything to my family, Frank Callan, he helped me massively and my new coach Chris Henry has boosted my game massively, mentally more than anything.’

Cahill has the most difficult possible opponent on his debut at the Crucible, but he is not bothered by the giant task at hand of dealing with O’Sullivan.

‘I’m just going to go out there, play my shots and enjoy it,’ Cahill told Eurosport.

‘I’m happy to draw Ronnie, I’m under no illusions it’s the toughest draw I could have got but I’ve proved before I can beat the best players and hopefully it can happen again.’

The Blackpool cueman has indeed picked up impressive wins in the past, knocking Ding Junhui out of the 2014 UK Championship, and Mark Selby out of the same tournament in 2018.