By Elliott West
“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”.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Introduction
Out of the snooker shadows, has emerged a player who poses a potential threat to the big guns of this year’s World Championship. His name is of course Anthony McGill. McGill who has produced some immaculate snooker in the past year, had already reached the semi-finals of last year’s tournament and produced a thrilling victory against Ronnie O’Sullivan, defeating him 13-12 and denying O’Sullivan the chance of a seventh World Championship title.
The Scot, who was a regular practice partner of the recently retired professional player, Alan McManus, is mild mannered and softly spoken, shunning the limelight of stardom and choosing to keep his private life separate from the snooker table. When asked who the most famous person he had ever met, he calmly replied “Ronnie O’Sullivan”. Perhaps not the most obvious candidate for a Triple Crown title, Anthony had developed a game that effective and is not phased by any opponent. If he wins, great but if he loses, it is not the end of the world.
Amateur Career
Anthony McGill first came to prominence by being runner-up to Stuart Carrington in the 2006 Junior Pot Black, losing 0-1. He was also runner-up in the 2008 European Under 19’s Championship, defeated by Stephen Craigie 2-6. A tournament which he he reached the final of again in 2010, losing to Jak Jones 4-6. McGill did however win PIOS-Event 5, in between these two tournaments, defeating Farakh Ajaib 6-0.
Professional Career
Turning professional in 2010, thanks to winning the fifth event of the International Open Series, Antony was soon in his first professional final. A final in the 2011 Scottish Professional Championship where he played John Higgins and was defeated 1-6. Since then, the Scot has appeared regularly in major tournaments but didn’t really make an impression until the 2014-15 season when he reached the semi-finals of the Riga Open after beating Judd Trump. He also reached the same stage of the UK Championship, losing to Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-4 after being 2-0 up in the match. A good season by any standards and one where he first broke into the top 32 in the world rankings. He topped the season off by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Championship. McGill played Shaun Murphy and lost 13-8 but he really made an impression on the audience with his infectious smile and his relaxed attitude during play.
However, there was to be a surge of form for this player in the 2016-17 season. Anthony won the Indian Open with a fantastic run, defeating Kyren Wilson in the final 5-2 and also reached the final the following year but lost to John Higgins 1-5. With this flicker of brilliance, appeared a tournament win that Antony would shrug off as joke. His win in the 2017 Snooker Shootout against Xio Guadong was to make the press because the event had recently become a ranking tournament. A status that the Scot thought it should not hold. Despite this, a win is a win for any professional player and this victory definitely raised his profile in the sport and opened a lot of doors for him. A point that was proved when he finished the season in 17th position in the world rankings.
Last year’s semi-final appearance at the Crucible and his run this year have just shown how talented and dangerous this player really is. An 11-1 chance at this year’s World Championship to raise the title, is now highly plausible and he is perfectly capable of removing many of the players still left in the tournament. His star quality is that he doesn’t display his emotions and leaves his opponent struggle to gauge him and are often punished by his surge of breaks. A modest man but someone who displays the true qualities of a potential Triple Crown victor.
