Aaron Hill 'buzzing' for first appearance at a World Snooker Tour event in Ireland

Aaron Hill is making final preparations for a first appearance at a World Snooker Tour event on the island of Ireland.

The 20-year-old Corkman has qualified for the Northern Ireland Open, and will be heading to Belfast for a first round meeting with the winner of Rod Lawler and world number two Judd Trump.

To even be at this stage took a massive effort from Hill.

While his last two-year tour card had been secured after winning the EBSA European Under-21 title, it was the dreaded Q School this time around in order to stay amongst the game's elite players.

Q School is cutthroat, and Hill was on the verge of qualifying when he led Luke Simmonds 3-1, but he lost three frames on the bounce to miss out.

"The biggest achievement of my life" Cork's Aaron Hill regained his professional tour card yesterday