McGill comeback eclipsed by heated clash with rival
ANGRY Scot Anthony McGill took a potshot at opponent Jamie Clarke as their heated Crucible clash boiled over.
McGill accused Welshman Clarke of deliberately standing in his eyeline when he was lining up shots in what proved to be a fiery World Championship second-round showdown.
Referee Jan Verhaas was forced to step in and warn both players about their conduct after an angry exchange.
Trailing 7-2, McGill complained to Verhaas about Clarke consistently getting in his way after he had taken his shot.
Dutchman Verhaas told McGill: ‘I’m sure it’s nothing malicious but stay out of it now, please.’ And then the experienced referee spoke to debutant Clarke and instructed him to sit in his seat for the remainder of the match when it was McGill’s turn to play.
‘You’ve got to try and avoid being in the eyeline of the player, so if he’s playing in that direction I’d like you to be in your chair,’ Verhaas told Clarke. ‘Let’s draw a line under it and get on with it.’
BBC pundit and six-time world champion Steve Davis stressed: ‘Those are nasty moments — that’s something you don’t see very often.’
Clarke, the world No 89, then produced a 77 break to win a thrilling 10th frame on the final black.
However, following the controversy, Glaswegian McGill bravely rallied and dug deep to win five frames in a row from 8-2 behind to finish the session 8-7 down, thus keeping his hopes alive of reaching the quarter-finals.
Next door, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Chinese star Ding Junhui finished deadlocked at 8-8.
The duo returned all-square at 4-4, but it was Ding who made the early running as breaks of 64,
118 and 101 saw him move 7-5 ahead.
But the Rocket hit back with runs of 90, 89 and 73 to lead 8-7, before Ding won the final frame of the session with a 53 break to leave the match finely poised ahead of its conclusion.
Kyren Wilson requires two frames for a quarter-final place having established an 11-5 lead over qualifier Martin Gould, while former world champion Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins are tied at 8-8 ahead of the concluding session.