Joe O'Connor awaits Mark Selby tie at UK Championship

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Joe O'Connor
Image caption,

Joe O'Connor lost 6-0 to Neil Robertson in the first round of last year's UK Championship

Joe O'Connor hopes the experience of taking on Neil Robertson at the 2014 UK Championship will help him for the equally daunting challenge of playing world number one Mark Selby this year.

O'Connor faces his fellow Leicester man in the first round, which starts in York on Tuesday, 24 November.

"I really wanted to play Mark," O'Connor, 20, told BBC Radio Leicester.

"Playing Neil was brilliant. Unfortunately I lost 6-0 but the crowd and the experience was amazing."

Former pool champion O'Connor is still an amateur and looking to win a place in the main tour.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Selby won the 2014 World Championship title, seven years after being runner-up to John Higgins

And he knows facing 2014 world champion Selby is more about learning at this stage of his career.

"Coming up against Mark is very exciting." O Connor added. "Hopefully I can nick a couple of frames off him. If you get a good start then it can put pressure on.

"I've not done as well as I would have liked since playing Neil last year, but it's all experience.

"Neil is is a great player and it was just good to play someone of that level. I was very nervous. It was my first time in front of a big crowd and with the TV cameras there it was hard but it was still good.

"Since then I have also played Judd Trump on television so hopefully that will help against Mark."

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