World Snooker Championship: Ronnie O'Sullivan's title defence ended by Anthony McGill
Ronnie O'Sullivan reeled off five frames in a row to fight back from 10-6 down to lead 11-10 but Scotland's Anthony McGill banished any lingering memories of last year's semi-final nightmare to clinch a place in the World Championship's last eight by winning 13-12
Saturday 24 April 2021 08:45, UK
Ronnie O'Sullivan's hopes of equalling Stephen Hendry's record of seven World Snooker Championship titles were ended by Anthony McGill in a final-frame thriller at the Crucible on Friday night.
With O'Sullivan 10-6 down heading into the evening's conclusion of their best-of-25 clash, he looked an entirely different player upon the resumption as he turned his four-frame deficit into an 11-10 lead - but it was not enough to prevent him crashing out.
O'Sullivan told Eurosport: "I had to chop away at it (McGill's lead) and my mindset was great. That's been letting me down in the last few years.
"The best thing that's come out of it is that hopefully I've found a way to enjoy my snooker now, because that's all that matters for me. It's obviously disappointing, but at this stage of my career winning and losing doesn't really matter."
Shell-shocked McGill had finally managed to respond with a break of 87 to level the match at 11-11 and leave both players two frames from victory.
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O'Sullivan nudged back in front only for McGill to respond with a magnificent 136 - his third century of the match - to force a fitting decider.
O'Sullivan got in first with a break of 42 but a missed red left a chance for McGill, who chiselled another nerveless clearance of 85 to reach the quarter-finals with a stunning 13-12 win.
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The players were level at 4-4 after Thursday's opening session, but Scotsman McGill won the first four frames in succession in an engrossing Friday morning's play to lead 8-4.
Two centuries underpinned a superb performance from McGill as he took a 10-6 advantage, but despite O'Sullivan's revival in the evening it was the tenacious 30-year-old who made it through to the quarter-finals.
McGill's sensational triumph came in startling contrast to his previous final-frame decider at the famous venue in Sheffield when he had lost a dramatic semi-final to Kyren Wilson in arguably the most remarkable frame in the sport's history.
"For any player to lose a world semi-final in that fashion, if you can come back from that then you've obviously got something upstairs, so all these experiences and defeats have helped me," said McGill.
"It's definitely my best win. Ronnie really wanted it this year, there's no doubt about that. He was targeting his seventh title - it wasn't a Ronnie who was disinterested or not bothered - it was a Ronnie who really wanted it.
"I never thought about last year and I tried not to treat it as a decider. I just wanted to keep playing snooker. I just loved it. I treated it as if there was another frame to come afterwards."
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