McGill holds early lead after his ‘best session’
ANTHONY McGill has come of age in his run to the final four at the World Snooker Championships. That’s the view of Crucible cult hero Jimmy White and it’s hard to argue with “Whirlwind” when watching the Glaswegian in full flow on the iconic baize.
McGill holds a commanding 6-2 lead after dominating the opening session of his semifinal against Kyren Wilson.
He has been in superb form en route to a maiden semi-final and bids to become the fourth Scot after Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Graeme Dott to reach the final.
McGill, who sparkled with five half-centuries in the opening session, would be the first Qualifier since Shaun Murphy in 2005 to reach the showpiece in Sheffield.
The 2015 quarter-finalist showed no nerves on his maiden outing on the one table set-up at the storied venue. He is the 56th man to reach this stage of the event.
White said: “It’s his first time on the one table set-up but he looked right at home.
“He’s been through close matches and battled through, and he looked so at ease against Wilson. I think it was his best session of the tournament.
“He’s a top matchplay snooker player who has come of age, for me.”
McGill broke the initial safety deadlock with a fine long red which, followed by a tricky pink into the far corner pocket, laid the foundation for an 83 break to claim the first frame.
Wilson left a long pot from the break-off and the Scot obliged, twice going into the bunch with control in compiling a 78 to lead 2-0.
The third frame was a topsy-turvy affair, McGill posting 53 after a puzzling Wilson mistake that saw him completely miss the object ball on an early safety shot.
But McGill missed a red to the right corner and Wilson responded with a first meaningful break of 55 before slipping up with a sloppy positional shot going from yellow to green.
The world No.8 blinked first after catching the lip of the middle pocket on a safety, leaving McGill to clear up and go 3-0 in front.
Wilson hit his stride somewhat in the fourth to make 50 and despite snookering himself behind the pink after potting a red, did enough to strike a first blow at 3-1 heading into the midsession interval.
After the pause, McGill looked primed to strike at every visit and pounced on poor safety play from Wilson to make 43.
It wasn’t enough to win the frame but a wild attempt at a long pot from Wilson left his opponent among the balls and McGill quickly took the frame out of his grasp.
There was more of the same in the sixth. Wilson rattled into the 30s but miscued badly on the high rest and McGill made 69 to claim another and make it 5-1.
It looked like McGill would play poacher extraordinaire again when there was enough value left on the table for the Scot to overhaul Wilson’s break of 45.
But the 29-year-old’s first glaring error, a botched blue with all the colours still left on the table, gave Wilson an opening and he capitalised to cut the deficit to four.
There was no such reprieve for the Englishman as McGill wrapped up the session in style with a fabulous break of 92 to claim a 6-2 overnight advantage.
The victor will play either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Mark Selby in the 35-frame final.
■ Live snooker returns to Eurosport and the Eurosport app. Watch the World Championship from July31- August16 with analysis from Jimmy White
He looked so at ease against Wilson