Mcgill taught a lesson by Ding but will learn from it
L Trump battles through to face Higgins
Outclassed by a man with a technique to die for – that was Anthony Mcgill’s assessment after he crashed out of the Betfred World Snooker Championship. The Glaswegian even claimed he would be asking his Chinese conqueror Ding Junhui for a few tips
With Mark Selby and Ronnie O’sullivan having made early exits in Sheffield, world No3 Ding is now the bookies’ favourite to clinch a maiden Crucible title.
He certainly lived up to that tag in a 13-4 rout of Mcgill in the second round.
The Scot looked to be heading home with a session to spare when Ding raced into an 8-0 lead thanks to two centuries and five further 50-plus breaks but Mcgill at least salvaged some pride by splitting the next eight frames 4-4.
That forced the players to return for a final session yesterday afternoon and the Chinese superstar wasted little time in sealing the one frame he needed for victory, leaving Mcgill to purr in admiration at his opponent’s performance.
“I was just outclassed,” said the 27-year-old. “Ding is a phenomenal player – his cueball control is out of this world and his technique is to die for. It’s great to have a front-row seat watching it.
“Every shot is so easy when your cueball control is that good, whereas you look at me trying to make a break and it’s all over the place.
“I’ve sat and played Ronnie O’sullivan but I’ve never seen anything like that. Every shot Ding plays, he has always got an easy pot. I’m going to ask him what he practises and how he practises because I want a bit of that!
“Every day is a school day – the only failure is if you get beaten and don’t learn. Think about the match, take something from it and keep moving forward.”
In the afternoon’s other match, a slighted Judd Trump proved he is still dangerous by beating Ricky Walden 13-9 to set up a quarter-final with Wishaw’s four-time world champion John Higgins.
Trump was in trouble at 9-8 down and 42 points behind when Walden attempted to outlandishly pot a red into the middle pocket from near the black spot but missed, allowing the Bristolian to make a 66 clearance and level the match.
He then reeled off four frames on the spin, including a fourth century of the match, to set up a repeat of the 2011 World Championship final with Higgins – which the Scot won 18-15 – and claims he was fired up by Walden’s perceived disrespect.
“I think the red he took on was a liberty,” said Trump. “He probably thought the way I was playing that I wasn’t going to clear up, so when he took that crazy shot on – it kind of spurred me on. I thought ‘he shouldn’t be playing that against me’ and something inside me fired up at that point.
“That’s what I needed to happen there. For the first time in the Championship I felt alive – the adrenaline kicked in and that was my moment.
“I had to step up to the plate because otherwise I was going home. Something kicked in, I made a really good clearance and from then on he made a few mistakes and I scored a lot more heavily.” l Watch the snooker World Championship live on Euro sport and euro sport player with Colin Murray and analysis from Ronnie O’sullivan.