Blackpool snooker professional James Cahill can't break run of first-round defeats
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The 24-year-old from Marton lost 4-2 to fellow Englishman Jimmy Robertson in a tournament staged, like most others this season, at the Covid-secure Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
Cahill led 2-1 in the best-of-seven match, having drawn level with a break of 64 in the second frame.
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Hide AdBut world number 45 Robertson, from East Sussex, then swept to victory with three successive frames, hitting the break of the match (90) in the fifth before edging a tight sixth 59-53 to seal the tie.
Cahill, now ranked 85th, has won only two matches in eight ranking events this season and this was his fifth successive first-round defeat.
His two-year Tour card runs out after the World Championships, which will be Cahill's next event.
He will return to Sheffield where he famously defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan two years ago, for the qualifiers from April 7.