Mcmanus relishing home crowd

World No 30 Alan Mcmanus hailed the Glasgow crowd and “the best country in the world for playing snooker” after powering into the second round of the Dafabet Scottish Open, writes Richard Dore.

The Glasgow potter overcame Englishman Matthew Selt on day two of the competition, triumphing 4-2 in a strong performance.

Mcmanus started in dazzling form in front of his home crowd, making an 89 break to take the first frame before going 3-0 up.

Selt came back in four and five but Mcmanus edged the sixth to progress to today’s second round, where he’ll face Yorkshire’s David Grace.

“It was a tough game against Matt, he’s a real good player and I got off to a good start, nicked the second and probably nicked the third as well,” said Mcmanus.

“Matt played a bit better and kept me away from things after that, I was preparing for a decider in my mind and managed to get a chance, thankfully.

“It’s nice to win a match here because I played John Higgins here last year and I wasn’t in the tournament so it’s nice to be involved.

“You probably want a win a bit more than regular events because you’re at home and we didn’t get many tournaments here for a long time which is disappointing, so it’s nice to be back.”

● Watch the Scottish Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport Player and Quest with Andy Goldstein and analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.