Angles thanks his lucky stars after Astley win

ALAN “Angles” McManus admitted he was “fortunate” to get a chance to play in his home city again, after squeezing into the second round of the BetVictor Scottish Open with a final-frame decider against England’s John Astley.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the home contingent at the Emirates Arena with McManus and Scott Donaldson progressing to join John Higgins, Graeme Dott and Ross Muir in the second round – and Rhys Clark from Stonehouse going within a whisker of joining them before losing his own last-frame decider against Ryan Day.

McManus blamed his commitments as a TV pundit with Eurosport for what he regarded as a below-par performance even in his 4-3 win against Astley.

“There’s no doubt I suffered from being a week in York and only being able to practice a little, so it is all my own making because I was doing the TV thing last week,” said McManus. “I’m not the sort of guy who will play a match with just two or three hours’ practice in a week but I will move on.”

The 47-year-old, who hails from Denistoun, wasn’t at his best but lives to fight another day.

“I had a couple of mates over and that is nice,” he said. “But I am just very fortunate that I get a chance to play again.”

Donaldson was a 4-2 winner against Rory McLeod, but Clark wasn’t so lucky. At the table with a great chance to clear up for a famous win against Day, the 24-year-old missed the penultimate black and never recovered.

Elsewhere, Judd Trump sent out a warning with a 4-0 win over Jimmy White.