UK Championship: Anthony McGill records biggest professional win over John Higgins
Last Updated: 03/12/14 7:04pm
Anthony McGill recorded the biggest win of his professional snooker life as he toppled fellow Scot John Higgins 6-5 at the Coral UK Championship.
World No 38 McGill, 23, edged out Higgins in a tense decider to book a quarter-final appearance against either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Matthew Selt.
The Glaswegian looked to have let the occasion of going head to head with his snooker idol get to him when he missed a regulation pink ahead of surrendering a 4-1 lead and allowing Higgins to pull level at five frames each.
He gave me a lot of chances there and usually he doesn't so I was kind of lucky today
Anthony McGill
But Higgins could not take the chances that came his way in the deciding frame at York's Barbican Centre, and McGill cut in the final red, after a bad miss on the same ball by the Wishaw potter, before clearing to the pink to clinch a 6-5 win.
McGill has been tipped for a major breakthrough as Scotland's next big thing but has only one notable quarter-final appearance behind him, at the Indian Open last season.
He could face 'Rocket' O'Sullivan next, with the four-time UK champion first having a Thursday evening assignment against Selt to negotiate.
Despite flickers of excellence from Higgins, who made a break of 129 to force an 11th frame, McGill put his win down to the 39-year-old's inconsistency.
"I think it was more to do with John's lack of form really," McGill said. "He gave me a lot of chances there and usually he doesn't so I was kind of lucky today.
"I heard he was playing really well, and thought 'here we go' but he must have left it in the dressing room."
Elsewhere, ninth-ranked Stuart Bingham had a remarkably easy time of it against Ricky Walden, the recent winner of the International Championship.
Bingham reached the semi-finals in York last year, beating O'Sullivan before falling to eventual champion Neil Robertson, and he coasted to a 6-0 victory over Walden.
"It was one of those days for Ricky," Bingham said. "Any time you beat Ricky it's a good win.
"You could see he was struggling I still need to improve. Even though I won 6-0 there's room for improvement."
