Higgins And McGill 6-3 Up

Anthony McGill impressed on his Crucible debut at the Betfred World Championship by going 6-3 ahead of Stephen Maguire.

McGill, tipped by many as snooker’s next Great Scot, outplayed his fellow Glaswegian and needs just four more frames to reach the last 16 when they resume on Sunday evening.

A break of 92 gave McGill the opening frame then 16th seed Maguire levelled with a 62. McGill surged 4-1 ahead, making two breaks of 53. Maguire won two of the next three frames with runs of 73 and 86 and looked set to win the last of the session when he led by 37 with one red left.

But McGill enjoyed a stroke of luck when he escaped from a snooker on the red and fluked a snooker of his own. Maguire missed the red and his opponent might have cleared, but ran out of position on the last black. However a subsequent poor safety from Maguire on the black allowed McGill to pot it to give himself a handy cushion.

Four time Crucible king John Higgins is also 6-3 ahead, against the highest seeded qualifier, Robert Milkins.

Breaks of 72, 64 and 62 helped Wishaw’s Higgins go 5-1 ahead. Milkins recovered to 5-3 and made a 58 in the last of the session. But Higgins later cleared from the penultimate red to extend his overnight advantage. They also resume at 7pm on Sunday.