Liam Pullen dropped off the World Snooker Tour at the end of last season, only to regain his tour card weeks later at Q School.
The 20-year-old from York is ranked 86th in the world and had to battle through four qualifying rounds to make his Crucible debut.
Before the tournament started, he spoke of how, aged 12, he had watched the 2018 final between Mark Williams and Higgins and was left “starstruck” by a chance encounter with the Scot in a Pizza Express.
But if he was feeling any nerves, Pullen did not show it as he made breaks of 57, 63, 97 and 58, although he still finds himself 4-5 behind against fellow Englishman Chris Wakelin, a quarter-finalist last year.
Wakelin, helped by breaks of 66 and 82, holds a one-frame advantage with the match set to be played to a finish on Wednesday from 10:00.
But Pullen can be pleased with how he performed and it was another bright spot for young English players after 19-year-old Stan Moody gave 2024 champion Kyren Wilson a real scare before losing 10-7 on Monday.
China’s Wu Yize, the 22-year-old 10th seed, recorded the biggest winning margin of this year’s tournament as he thrashed compatriot Lei Peifan 10-2.
That result means all nine completed matches have been won by the seeded players.
Wu became the fourth Chinese player into the last 16, where he will play either four-time winner Mark Selby or 2024 runner-up Jak Jones.
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