(Reuters) – Anthony McGill upset reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan 13-12 in the World Championship second round on Friday, denying him a shot at a record-equalling seventh Crucible title.
World number 16 McGill, a losing semi-finalist at the venue in Sheffield, England in 2020, got off to a strong start and won six of the eight frames in the morning session.
He led 10-6 before 45-year-old O’Sullivan, who won his sixth world title last year, roared back to win five frames in a row and go 11-10 up and then 12-11.
But McGill’s superb break of 136 after he got a safety error from world number two O’Sullivan, forced a decider and the Scot kept his cool to beat his English opponent for the first time.
“I played so well this morning and Ronnie just played like Ronnie tonight and I didn’t step up, but I managed to stop the rot at 11 each,” McGill told the BBC.
The 30-year-old will now play the winner of the quarter-final between Stuart Bingham and Jamie Jones.
O’Sullivan said McGill deserved to win, saying “He was unlucky to lose in the semi-finals last year and if I had lost to anybody else I would be a bit sore but the snooker gods did the right thing today. I have to lick my wounds and come back again.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
