McGill makes it to his maiden semi at Crucible
ANTHONY McGILL withstood a spirited fightback from Kurt Maflin to triumph 1310 and reach his first Crucible semi-final
The Scottish potter led from the start of an exhilarating clash, racing into a 3-0 lead without reply, before taking four of the next five frames to build a commanding 7-1 advantage.
World No.43 Maflin showed plenty of fight to close the gap to 9-6, and later 12-10, but McGill demonstrated great composure to take the 23rd frame and a spot in the last four of a Triple Crown event for the first time in his career.
The 29-year-old dismissed Jack Lisowski and Jamie Clarke 10-9 and 13-12 in rounds one and two respectively, and was hoping for a victory in his latest closely-fought tie that would put him within touching distance of becoming the first Scottish world champion since John Higgins in 2011.
McGill will now face world No.8 Kyren Wilson with a place in the competition showpiece up for grabs, after he saw off defending champion Judd Trump 13-9 earlier in the day.
And Trump predicts that the Kettering man could prove to be a step up in class, with the competition’s top seed stating that Wilson will be hard to stop.
“He’s definitely my favourite to go on and win the title now,” Trump said. “His long potting was brilliant over the three sessions and it looks like he’s improved a lot.
“I wasn’t disappointed in the way I played – I battled until the end and I felt good out there in all the sessions. When I sit down and reflect in a week or two I’ll know that I’ve had an amazing season.”
Trump made breaks of
72, 100 and 62 to reduce his overnight disadvantage from 10-6 to 11-9 in the final session, but Wilson stylishly closed the game out with a break of 104 to seal his spot in the Crucible last four for only the second time in his career.
Wilson said: “I’m obviously delighted with the win. Really, it doesn’t matter who you beat when you’ve made it to the world semi-finals, but to do it by beating Judd does make it that little bit sweeter.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I’m striving to achieve what he has in the game and to have a rival who’s about the same age can only be good for the sport.
“Although I can’t look too far ahead, I’m feeling at my best now. This win has given me a lot of belief and I can’t wait for my next game.”
Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan compared himself to a ‘fat Maradona’ despite completing a dazzling comeback to beat Mark Williams 13-10 and book his place in the World Championship semi-finals.
O’Sullivan was once again far from satisfied with his performance against his fellow former champion and claimed only natural talent – like that possessed by former Argentina superstar Diego Maradona – was sustaining his quest for a sixth career world title.
O’Sullivan said: “I’m not hard on myself, I’m a realist. I’m not doubting that I’ve got ability. What I’m good at I’m unbelievably good at: my scoring, my break building, my positional play.
“There will always be a little bit like… Maradona. You look at him now, he’s big and fat but you put a ball at his feet and the geezer’s unbelievable – but he’s not fit enough to play against guys who haven’t got as much talent as him.
“It’s a little bit like snooker. You’ve got to have the long game and the safety and the cue action, you’ve got to have the reliability.
“I don’t believe you can win it being good or rubbish, and I’ve been good or rubbish. I just need to be steady. Otherwise it’s like trying to win the US Open with a five-iron in my bag.”
Meanwhile, Mark Selby’s march towards a fourth world title continued after the Jester from Leicester got the better of Australian Neil Robertson 13-7 in their quarter-final clash.
Breaks of 91 and 56 saw Selby reel off the first two frames of the final session, and while his opponent pulled one back, a convincing victory was sealed with five frames to spare.