Anthony McGill stages wild comeback to keep Crucible qualification hopes intact

McGill recovered from 8-2 and 9-4 down - and requiring a snooker in frame 14 when 69-0 behind in points - to pip Martin O’Donnell, 10-9, on Monday night at the English Institute of Sport.

The Scot moves through to the final qualifying round where he will meet Ali Carter on Judgement Day Wednesday for a spot in the main draw at the Crucible Theatre.

The two-time ranking event winner last played at the Crucible in 2023 when he defeated Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski before being ousted by surprise package Si Jiahui in a deciding frame in the quarter-finals.

Since then, McGill had not won a match in snooker’s blue riband event having lost his opening qualifying round engagement in each of the past two years.

And it was looking like a third consecutive exit at the first hurdle when he fell behind early on to world number 55 O’Donnell who won the opening four frames of the tie.

Following the mid-session interval, McGill got on the board with a 94 and then made it 4-2, but former Welsh Open finalist O’Donnell took the three remaining frames from the morning session for a commanding 7-2 advantage.

On resumption several hours later, O’Donnell took the first frame of the evening to stretch his lead further before his opponent pieced together back-to-back frames for 8-4.

But when O’Donnell reached the hill with frame 13, and then made a 69 break in frame 14 to leave his peer requiring a snooker at 9-4 down, it looked all over.

However, McGill got the penalty points he needed and managed to steel the frame. This was a catalyst for the 35-year-old, as he turned on a switch for his best spell of scoring in the match, registering runs of 74, 63 and 51 in closing the gap to just one at 9-8 down.

McGill then fashioned the first century break of the match, a 128, to force a decider where a 72 helped him to an incredible victory over a stunned O’Donnell.

Earlier this season, McGill reached his first ranking event final in over eight years at the British Open where he was denied the trophy by Shaun Murphy. He hasn’t built on that deep run since, not getting past the last 16 of any other tournament, but now would be a great time to string a few wins together.

Currently the world number 42, McGill is aiming for his tenth Crucible outing - he reached the TV stages every year between 2015 to 2023 - but faces a stern test against two-time runner-up Carter, who won eight frames in-a-row from 5-2 down to defeat Belgian youngster Julien Leclercq, 10-5.

‘The Captain’ highlighted that sequence with efforts of 142 and 105.

One familiar Crucible face who won’t be at this year’s party is Stephen Maguire, as he was eliminated 10-5 by Liam Highfield. Having come from the opening qualifying round, Highfield hit successive tons in his latest victory.

Winner of this season’s first ranking title at the Championship League, Maguire now hasn’t qualified for three of the last four world championships.

Elsewhere at the EIOS on Monday evening, another young Belgian, Ben Mertens, ousted Yuan Sijun 10-9 in a quality affair that featured both players racking up a hat-trick of tons.

World number 31 Yuan is the highest ranked player yet to make the Crucible, and he will have to wait another year to play on snooker's grandest stage.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Championship qualifying rounds, visit here.