The third round of the 2022 Q-School Event 2 was played yesterday.
Cahill Reaches Round Four
James Cahill booked his place in the penultimate day of Q School event two with a 4-1 win over Martin O’Donnell in Sheffield.
Cahill is seeking a return to the World Snooker Tour, having dropped off the circuit at the conclusion of the 20/21 campaign. The Blackpool cueman is renowned for his ability to perform on the big occasion and became the first amateur to compete at the Crucible when he qualified for the 2019 World Championship. Cahill beat Ronnie O’Sullivan before bowing out in the last 16.
At times Cahill, who has also landed wins over the likes of Ding Junhui and Mark Selby at the UK Championship, has struggled to convert his big match prowess into performances against lesser opposition. He failed to come through Q School 12 months ago and lost his second match in event one this year.
After establishing a 2-1 lead this afternoon, Cahill crafted breaks of 78 and 61 to get himself over the line. He faces Ross Bulman up next.
Former Shoot Out champion Michael Georgiou progressed with a 4-2 win over Daniel Womersley. He faces a tough tie against Andrew Higginson in round four. Higginson defeated Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko 4-1 this morning.
Michael Holt edged to a nervy 4-3 win over Sean Harvey, while Belgian teenager Ben Mertens scored a 4-0 victory against Alfie Davies.
Once again this report is only telling part of the story and ignoring the Asian and mainland European players involved in the tournment. Among those who progressed, we find Gao Yang, Zhao Jianbo, Wang Yuchen, Soheil Vahedi, Cheung Ka Wai, Lukas Kleckers and Kurt Maflin.
Iulian Boiko didn’t go through. He still has another event to go at of course. However, if he doesn’t qualify but still does well enough to be able to stay in the UK and play in most events without the ranking pressure, it could be a blessing in disguise. He was far too young when he turned pro, and still is only 16.
On the other hand, I’m quite sad for Sunny Akani. He looks under huge pressure and would probably not be in this position if it wasn’t for long covid hitting him very badly. He too has another event to go at, but the pressure will only increase.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
I feel sorry for Kurt Maflin and Norwegian snooker. He did not participate in 6 ranking tournaments last season, most likely due to travel restrictions. He only needed a few wins to stay on tour. His poor performance when he first showed up is probably due to lack of match practice and lack of proper training partners.
He still has a chance with Q-School 3, but it’s very uncertain.
On a side note, I’m sick and tired of hearing/reading about Cahill qualifying for the Crucible as an amateur and beating Ronnie in round one. YES, he WAS an amateur at the time but he had been a professional for four years before dropping off the tour. And yes, he did beat Ronnie but anyone who watched this match will remember how unwell Ronnie looked out there. He said nothing in the immediate aftermath of the match – he’s not one to look for excuses – but later admitted that he had been suffering from food poisoning.
Well, the sooner Cahill disappears (and I steadily root for whomever he plays in this Q-school), the less we need to hear of his heroics. Amateur or not Ronnie had no business losing to him, but commentary said during this World’s how Ronnie played some “speculative doubles” (unlike beinglot more measured this time) in that match and in any case it was just painful to watch Ronnie then, he was so obviously not OK. But I like the two matches Ronnie played against Cahill since: 4-0, 4-0 in 45 minutes each. I wonder if he holds grudges or Cahill could no longer “rise to the occasion” 🤔
I also feel sad for Sunny. He is obviously not right after COVID.