On April 29, Beijing time, the 2021 Snooker World Championships ended the quarter-stage competition at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, and Stuart Bingham scored a single shot in the decider to beat Anthony McGill 13-12.
Bingham
This is the second time in his career that Bingham has reached the single table stage at the World Championships, the last time in 2015, when he reached the final to win the World Championship. Bingham also went through two rounds of qualifying this year, and he is only two races away from lifting the trophy, and if it does, he will become the third qualifier in the history of the World Championships after Terry Griffith in 1979 and Sean Murphy in 2005.
McGill defeated defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-12 in the second round, but this time he failed to recreate the sharp moment in the decider. It's worth mentioning that he has played a tiebreaker in five of his last seven games at the World Championships, including the epic semi-finals of last year's 16-17 defeat to Lucky Karen Wilson.
The first two stages of the two sides fought 9-7, Bingham in the first stage of the two-shot breaker, one 80+ and two 60+ to dominate, the second stage was replaced by McGill outbreak, two shots and single shot 83 points, 92 points, 75 points, the reverse score.
McGill 106 started the third stage and had a chance to pull the score open, but a blackball missed hand to give Bingham the upper hand, and the 2015 champion took the opportunity to blast a single shot of 75, 51, 90 and 91 points to make it 11-10. McGill had another chance in the 22nd inning, but after hitting 19 points he slammed his ball into the bag and let Bingham score 41 points ahead of the match points, 12-10.
Bingham had two consecutive sets to end the game, but neither of them seized it, allowing McGill to save two match points in a row 75-40, 86-25, and the game went into a decider. The first chance in the game came to Scot McGill, but after scoring 11 points, he was unlucky again, he hit the coffee ball and kicked the Ku K ball pile, without getting any chance to continue scoring.
After a few anglo-global swaps, Bingham found the opportunity to play the mid-range red ball corner bag, walked perfectly, and played the fourth shot of the game and the single shot that ended the game - 125 points to seal the victory. Bingham will face three-time champion Mark Selby in the semi-finals.
McGill
Bingham said after the game: "At 12-10 I didn't have any chances in the pool pile, and then I thought maybe it was doomed, Anthony played great, pulled back 12-12 strongly, luckily he didn't knock the pool pile out of chances, and then I hit the best single shot of my career." ”
"I slept soundly the night before because I was so tired and I didn't do anything wrong after 7-9. I've lost a lot of deciders this year, and this round has either made your season or ruined your season. I persevered this time, perhaps as a good sign. ”
"I'm getting better and better, I want to keep scoring high, it's the first time in six years that I've played a single table at the World Championships, it's emotionally rich, it's going to be a completely different atmosphere and I'm going to enjoy every second."
McGill, who lost, said: "I didn't perform well today, Stewart did well, if only I could put more pressure on him. The last thing I worry about myself is courage, and my response when I'm 10-12 behind is great and 12-12 also stabilizes my mind. In the last game, I played that coffee ball and said it was perfectly executed, but I didn't get any red balls. ”
"I played a lot of good goals at the World Championships and I'm in excellent shape, and I'm not going to let today's results affect my mindset. All I have to do is try to keep going in the right direction. ”