Scott aims for an anniversary waltz on the baize
Scott Donaldson has an extra reason to look forward to this week’s Betvictor European Masters – because it’s where he first met his wife 10 years ago!
Scottish potter Donaldson shocked compatriot John Higgins with a fine 5-3 win to secure a place at the first ranking event of the new season.
Now the Perth cueman is hungry to make sure he stars in Germany, where he met his wife, Ina.
That was when Donaldson was competing in the 2012 Paul Hunter Classic. Fast-forward a decade, and he now travels to Germany to face China’s Chang Bingyu in Furth next week.
“It’s our 10th anniversary and we are going back to the place where we first came across each other,” revealed a loved-up Donaldson.
“We are going to go for a walk around to explore the place again. It will be really nice.
“She was there with her brother watching in 2012, and they saw a little Scotsman playing on one of the tables, said he looks quite good and that is how it started.
“It is a really nice venue. I think any player would agree that if the venue is good, they will play good snooker. I think all the players really like Furth.
“I got to the semis of the Paul Hunter Classic in 2018, but lost to Peter Ebdon.
I also remember beating Mark Selby there, and the crowd were amazing. You feel welcomed. The way the tables were set up, it was a bit like a music festival where you could walk round and see different acts. The crowd don’t just focus on Table One.” Donaldson sparkled to deny four-time world champion Higgins a place on the plane to Germany. It was the first time he had beaten Higgins in his professional career. “John( in set) is the best role model anyone could have,” added world No. 50 Donaldson.
“He has nothing more to prove on the table, and he has nothing more to prove off it. He is just genuinely the nicest guy you could meet. “Then you go on the table with him and it is so hard to compete with him, let alone win. I’ve looked up to him for pretty much my whole career, and I still do. I can’t believe he is playing at this level at his age. It is phenomenal.
“It doesn’t matter what the scoreline is with him. You will never feel you have won until you’ve potted the final ball.
“It was nice to clear up at the end and beat him. It was probably the best frame of the game.
“But I can’t take too much out of it, as it’s early in the season, and he won’t have practised much. But it is still a good win.”
Glasgow’s Anthony Mcgill is also competing in Germany, and faces China’s Si Jiahui in the first round on Tuesday afternoon. Former world champion, Graeme Dott, locks horns with China’s Zhou Yeulong earlier the same day.