Chris Wakelin took a post-victory dig at long-standing critic and BBC pundit Stephen Hendry. The No.13 seed says he would be first in line to congratulate Ronnie O’Sullivan should he clinch an eighth World Championship title to surpass the Scot in the snooker record books.

Wakelin defeated Liam Pullen to advance into round two, a result that brought particular satisfaction to the 34-year-old after once again feeling unfairly written off by the seven-time Crucible king. The English star said: “Someone who doesn’t rate me at all is Stephen Hendry. Even on his Youtube the other day, which I’m a big fan of and watch it every week, he said on there that he fancied Liam to beat me, and in the next breath he said I’ve never seen him play before. Whatever.

“When I played him a few years ago [British Open qualifiers in 2021] everyone was ringing me up before and saying: Oh you’re playing him, he’s come back.

“I thought I’d have a little dig so when they asked me: Are you looking forward to playing a seven-time world champion and legend? I said I was a bit young to remember when he was at his best, but my mum was a huge fan! And then he beat me!

“He obviously doesn’t rate me at all because I’m not World No.1 or World Champion or World Champion in the past, but it’s my job just to go out there and focus on my game.

“I’ve got a massive amount of respect for anyone who’s ever won a tournament in this game, it’s so difficult. Stephen being a seven-time world champion, I’ve got nothing but admiration for the guy. But he clearly doesn’t think I’m any good.

“Every single players’ event, whenever I’m playing a match on TV, he always says the other guy is going to win. I laugh about it every time and it gives me a lot of pleasure to just go out there and do my thing.

“You’re always going to have critics in this sport as you do in every sport, so it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

Hendry and O’Sullivan are level on seven World titles apiece and, with the Scot having hung up his cue, The Rocket has the chance to consign him to the history books.

Wakelin believes he would relish that moment, saying with a grin: “Oh yeah, just to see his face at the end. They’ll definitely stick him on commentary for the final session of the final.

“It will be a long time coming and it would be quite funny. I’d be at the front of the queue to congratulate Ronnie.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan gave himself a hilarious new nickname after breezing through his first match at the World Snooker Championship. He is currently one of two players to have achieved Crucible glory on seven occasions, with the other being Stephen Hendry. If the 51-year-old secures another title over the coming weeks, he will become the most decorated champion in snooker history.

O’Sullivan got his campaign off to a flying start with a one-sided 10-2 victory over Chinese rival He Guoqiang in the opening round. He rattled off three century breaks and finished with a flourish, scoring exactly 100 in the final frame. However, he wasn’t entirely happy with his performance and made his feelings clear in unusual fashion during his BBC interview.

Rarely one to see the positive side of things at the snooker table, O’Sullivan said: “It’s still Rusty Ron, it will always be Rusty Ron.”

British teenager Daniella Britton is just three wins away from the main draw at Wimbledon after being awarded a wildcard into qualifying. The 15-year-old from Bournemouth has been given the opportunity after she won the under-16s and under-18s national championships.

The teenager will now play in a three-round knock-out tournament at Roehampton to qualify. The young star will comepete from Monday, June 22 to Thursday, June 25 – just one week prior to the championships at SW19. If successful, she would be unseeded and could come face-to-face with some of the world’s biggest tennis stars on Centre Court including Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek.

Should Britton qualify, she would be the second-youngest modern-day Wimbledon qualifier behind Coco Gauff in 2019. Gauff reached the fourth round on her Wimbledon debut that year – beating Venus Williams in the first round.

And Britton has opened up to BBC News on what it feels like to be so close to qualifying for arguably the biggest tennis tournament in the world at such a young age.

She said: “I just can’t believe it, I haven’t even played in a women’s pro event yet. I’m just going to bring what I can do onto the court and see how it goes.

“Especially for a British kid. You just want to aim for the stars and play those slams.”

The young player will be hoping she can emulate one of her idols, seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who she said she has been fortunate enough to watch in the past.

She added: “Something about his presence on court, the way he just manages to deal with the pressures and expectations, it’s something really to admire.”

Britton grew up playing at West Hants tennis club and their head coach, Richard Irwin, has said he was “incredibly proud” of her achievement.

He said “she is the best” at the moment at her age level in this country and he had “no doubt that she’s going to go out there and potentially surprise a few players”.

Britton will be one many players outside the top 104 who will compete in the Wimbledon qualifiers. The main draw this year takes place from Monday, June 29 to Sunday, July 12.