I’ve lost fortune to John and Stephen at practice .. it’s worth every penny
McGill happy to pay the price of table lessons
ANTHONY McGILL has been happy to splash the cash in his quest to land snooker’s biggest prize.
The Scot kicked off his maiden World Championship semi-final yesterday against Kyren Wilson.
And McGill has revealed bruising practice sessions with compatriots John Higgins and Stephen Maguire has left him at the peak of his powers for an assault on the £500,000 first prize.
He said: “I’ve lost a hell of money to them both but so would anyone playing John Higgins or Stephen Maguire every day in practice.
“We played for tenners and for lunch. You’ve got to do that because you can’t just hit balls all day. There’s got to be something on the line to make it worthwhile but I’ve made it all back so it’s all been worth it.
“I’d quite happily shell out £10 every day for the rest of my career to be able to practise with them. It’s basically for a lesson with the best.
“Scotland has had a lot of really good snooker players – and I’m lucky enough to practise with two of them.
“I’ve been trying to take as much knowledge practising with them every day.
“I’m trying to become one of the tightest all-round players like the Scottish boys have been over the years.”
McGill made a flying start to his clash with Wilson, powering into a 6-2 lead.
The Glaswegian showed no signs of nerves for the big occasions and pocketed breaks of 83, 78 and 53 for a welcome 3-0 advantage.
Englishman Wilson hit back with a 50 run but McGill won a scrapped fifth frame and compiled a 65 break to lead 5-1.
Wilson edged the next frame but McGill sank a fine 92 to put himself in the driving seat in the bestof-33 frame Crucible duel.
Compatriot Stephen Hendry was impressed. The seven-time world champion said: “He’s showed great temperament. He’s not the kind of player you’d like to be chasing because he does very little wrong.
“He might not look as sparkling as some of the top players but he makes very little unforced errors. And that’s a hard player to try to peg a deficit back from.”
Six-time Crucible winner Steve Davis added: “I think he’s surprised a lot of people.
“His potting has been excellent and his cue-ball control has been far better than his opponent.”