Defending champion Mark Selby falls at the Crucible
Last Updated: 25/04/15 2:58pm
Mark Selby fell victim to the Crucible curse as rookie Scot as Anthony McGill pulled off a shock win at the World Championship in Sheffield.
Qualifier McGill exuded calm assurance as he saw off the defending champion 13-9 to book his ticket to the quarter-finals, never appearing overawed at any stage.
It is McGill's first World Championship and it had already been one to remember; he saw off fellow Glaswegian and sometime practice partner Stephen Maguire 10-9 in the opening round.
In 2005, Shaun Murphy came through qualifying and went on to lift the title and like Murphy 10 years ago, McGill was a 150/1 outsider with bookmakers before the tournament began.
No maiden winner of the Crucible crown has managed to retain the trophy, with Selby becoming the 16th man to falter, joining a list that includes greats of the game such as Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan.
A steady opening session on Thursday had seen he and McGill reach 4-4, but the Scot stretched 10-6 clear by lunch on Friday after firing breaks of 56, 125 and 54, and there was no flinching from the outsider when play resumed in the evening.
They shared the opening two frames, before 87 from McGill took him 12-7 clear, inflicting a mortal blow to Selby's prospects. A spirited break of 101 made it 12-9 to keep McGill waiting - but not for long.
After a safety battle, McGill potted a terrific red to the middle pocket and was away on a victory charge, an assured 82 sealing a fine victory.
McGill said: "I'm just ecstatic. To beat the world champion at the Crucible, I just can't believe it No-one expected me to win. I wasn't expecting myself to win, I was just hoping to put up a decent fight and try my best.
"I knew if I gave everything my mind would have been at ease whatever the result To beat Mark 13-9 is just a dream. I knew it wasn't over even when it went 12-7. He's not world champion for nothing. It seems like every time I win a game it's the biggest win of my career. Fingers crossed it keeps happening."
Selby said: "He played fantastically all match and thoroughly deserved to win. I played really poorly in the second session. Every time he got a chance he seemed to punish me. I said to him at the end that if he played like that there's no reason he can't win it.
"I've known Anthony for a few years now. I've no embarrassment in losing. You look at the greats who've won it for the first time and not defended it."
McGill could find himself the last Scot standing come Saturday evening, with former champions Graeme Dott and John Higgins in danger of elimination.
Dott fell 11-5 adrift of Stuart Bingham, while Higgins slipped from 7-5 in front to 9-7 behind Ding Junhui, China's perennial Crucible underachiever.
Northern Ireland's Mark Allen built an early 5-3 lead over Barry Hawkins, the 2013 runner-up, in a match that ends on Saturday evening, when O'Sullivan, perhaps glad Selby has gone, begins his second-round match against Matthew
Stevens.
