Fairytale of Sofia

The 20-year-old from Marchwood was beaten 6-4 by ex-professional Gary Wilson, who admitted Castle was the only player in the draw he feared.

Wilson, from Newcastle, was cruising at 3-1 up before Castle produced one of his characteristic charges.

Quick-fire breaks of 68, 58 and 57 gave him a 4-3 lead.

After Wilson, 27, took the next two frames, Castle missed a chance to square the match when he lost position on the final yellow.

“He deserved it,” admitted Castle, who prepared for his matches at the Dedeman Princess Hotel, Sofia, by listening to Christmas songs while soaking in a hot bath.

“It was a good tight match. He played really good safety shots. I think he was a bit more solid in that match than me.”

Former world under-21 champion Wilson lost 10-8 in the final to Muhammad Asif (Pakistan).

Castle reckoned he “got away with murder” in qualifying for the last-32 of the amateur world championships.

Two wins and two defeats in the round-robin stages meant he needed Marcin Nitschke (Poland) to beat Muhammad Faaris Khan (South Africa) to secure third spot in his five-man group and a place in the knockout.

Nitschke was cruising at 3-0 but Khan bounced back and won three frames on the spin.

Castle watched the live scoring on his phone while waiting for dinner in the bar with travelling companion Alex Dunkley as the Pole edged the final frame.

He then battled back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to beat Pakistan’s number two Asjad Iqbal in the first knockout round.

Castle wrapped up the 4-3 victory with breaks of 63 in the sixth frame and 33 and 49 in the decider.

Now in his stride and smashing in half-centuries for fun, he accounted for China’s Jin Long in the last-32. The 5-2 victory included breaks of 55, 64, 65 and 66.

And he found yet another gear by blasting the 2004 Asian under-21 champion Pramual Janthad (Thailand) 5-1 in the last-16 with runs of 82, 83, 53 and 75.

Castle, who pocketed $194 (£120) prize money, reckons he performs better once the round-robin is complete.

“I just can’t get going in the groups,” he said. “Once I get into the knockout, that’s when I start playing.

“It was brilliant over there, especially when I was playing my last-16 match. The room was packed and I was playing good stuff. It was a great week. I enjoyed it.”

And he added: “The Christmas songs were quite good. That helped me out.”

Castle’s group-stage results (breaks): 4-0 Dimitar Mehandzhiyski (Bulgaria), 1-4 Marcin Nitschke (Poland), 4(69, 78)-1 Muhammad Faaris Khan (South Africa), 1(51)-4 Mohamed Shehab (United Arab Emirates).

Picture by Thomas Brünner