Darwen snooker pro Justin Astley has moved one step closer to booking a dream ticket to this year's Embassy World Championships.

The 20-year-old hotshot has progressed through to Stage Three of the qualifiers, held at Pontins in Prestatyn, which includes such prestigious names as John Parrot, James Wattana and Great Harwood-based potter Ian McCulloch.

Should Justin beat 21-year-old Welshman Ian Preece in his opening encounter then he could come up against 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, with a potential clash against two-time semi-finalist Joe Swail also in the offing.

The former Darwen Vale pupil said: "To get to the Crucible in April would obviously be incredible but at the moment it's just about winning games and building my confidence.

"I had a disappointing start to the Challenge Tour, losing my first two games, so getting to this stage of the qualifiers has given me a great boost."

Astley opened proceedings with a 5-1 thrashing of Stoke's Neil Selman and then recorded a hat trick of 5-3 victories over 17-year-old Mark Allen of Northern Ireland, Staffordshire's Troy Shaw and Jimmy Robertson of Sussex.

"I'm really pleased with my form at the moment, my opponents in those games were playing some good stuff so I certainly had to go some to beat them.

"The level of competition isn't getting any easier though and I'll have to produce some of my best-ever snooker to continue my winning streak."

Astley now must wait until February 10 before embarking on the glory trail once again.

Meanwhile, Astley's Lancastrian colleague on the Challenge Tour, 17-year-old Chris Norbury, exited the qualifiers in Stage Two.

Norbury, who was recently named one of the four young sports personalities 2003 by the Lancashire Playing Fields Association, swept aside Stephen Rawlings of Preston 5-1 before coming up against Matthew Street.

By sheer co-incidence, with Norbury hailing from Accrington and Street from Colchester, a Stanley v Colchester United FA Cup revenge match was on the cards however the tie went the same way with Norbury being edged out 5-4.