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Hayden Staniland got his bid to reach the Crucible Theatre off to a flier

The 19-year-old amateur from Worksop is attempting for the first time to qualify for the Betfred World Championship later this month.

And Staniland, who just missed out on securing a tour card earlier this year, thrashed world No125 Riley Parsons 6-1 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

The teenager has to win another three matches to get to play at the iconic venue – and next up is Andrew Higginson tomorrow [Thur].

Higginson, a former ranking tournament finalist who got as high as world No18 in the rankings, will be a tougher test.

But Staniland knows that if he could make it through to the final stages World Snooker will automatically hand him a tour spot with no need to attend Q School.

Staniland recently gave up being a joiner at National Trust properties including Hardwick Hall to concentrate fully on his snooker career.

He said: “I am really happy, I played decent enough. I knew I had a chance against Riley, I played him in the junior events as well and he had only just beaten me – plus I took some good form in.

“It was scrappy in places, I lost position a couple of times and then played safe and kept him tight.

“Worksop is only half an hour from here. I play in the town at the North Notts Arena, and started playing competitively about five or six years ago.

“This is my first World Snooker event. And this guarantees me £5,000, my biggest snooker payday by miles. I got 1,000 euros for getting to the European Under-21 final, losing to Aaron Hill.

“There is no pressure on me this week at all, I am an amateur and the professionals are expected to win. Andrew Higginson is a very good player, and is experienced in this situation.

“But the matches are shorter this year, last year they were all first to 10. That shorter distance maybe gives the outsiders more help than the pros.

“That today was the longest match I have ever played already, though. The goal is to become a pro as soon as possible, and I could do that by winning three more matches here.

“I gave up my job as a joiner recently to focus on my snooker. I was working at a lot of National Trust properties, doing rotten woodwork repair at places like Hardwick Hall and Clumber Park.”