Anthony McGill finds long and winding road to redemption beyond Crucible in British Open snooker run - 'I thought I'd be driving a lorry next year'

Anthony McGill has floated the idea of following in his father's footsteps to become a lorry driver, but the no-nonsense Scotsman appears to have found the road to redemption as a professional snooker player. With his world ranking plummeting to 57 from a career-high of 12 only two years ago, the former Crucible semi-finalist has rediscovered some peak form to reach the British Open final.

‘I hate the way I play snooker’ – McGill’s shock admission after victory over Williams

Video credit: TNT Sports

It has been a decade since Anthony McGill was tipped to win the World Championship by Mark Selby after ending the Leicester player's Crucible title defence in the second round with a 13-9 victory.

"I have no embarrassment about losing," said Selby after being mugged by the smiling Scotsman in the 2015 World Championship.

"He played fantastic all match. He thoroughly deserved to win.

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"I probably lost it in the second session, I played really poorly and every time he got a chance he seemed to punish me – he had me under pressure all match.

"He’s more than capable of winning the tournament."

McGill - a rejuvenated figure who will face Shaun Murphy in Sunday's best-of-19 frame British Open final - was making his Crucible debut when he defeated Selby as a 150-1 outsider.

After edging out fellow Scot Stephen Maguire 10-9 in the first round, he would lose 13-8 to Murphy in the quarter-finals of the sport's ultimate event, but the future appeared bright for McGill, who was even compared to six-time world champion Steve Davis due to his ginger barnet.

The past two years have seen McGill's confidence and form fall off a cliff, with his worrying decline in expectations even forcing him to consider a change of career after he failed to qualify for the Crucible in 2024 and 2025.

Having been inside and around the top 16 between 2017 and 2023, McGill was contemplating walking away from the game at the age of only 34.

"My ranking was dropping so much and I thought I would be driving a lorry next year," said McGill after defeating close friend and fellow Scot John Higgins 6-3 to reach the final in Cheltenham.

"This will help me continue playing snooker as a job."

McGill reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open last season, being whitewashed 5-0 by winner Gary Wilson, and the German Masters in January, losing 5-4 to Kyren Wilson, but positive outcomes have been thin on the ground until his trip to Cheltenham.

Wins over Dylan Emery (4-3), Gary Wilson (4-1), Oliver Lines (4-1), Xiao Guodong (4-2), Stan Moody (5-3) and Higgins (6-3) will see him end the week provisionally ranked 45th in the standings.

A victory over Murphy, worth £100,000 to the champion, would catapult him back inside the top 35.

"I really want to compete in the final," said McGill. "Then if it doesn't go my way, I'll look back and it will be fine.

"But right now, I really want to end the week with the trophy in my hands. In the last couple of years I have won hardly any matches, so this is a huge week for me."

McGill trails 8-2 to Murphy, who dismantled Selby 6-1 in the semi-finals, on the career head-to-heads, but knows how to get the better of the Masters holder over the longer format.

He avenged his 2015 Crucible exit with a 10-8 victory over the 2005 world champion in the first round a year later in Sheffield, before losing 13-9 to Marco Fu in the last 16.

Oddly enough, McGill's most memorable moments in the sport have arguably been reserved for the biggest stage since he turned professional back in 2010.

Despite winning the 2016 Indian Open and 2017 Shoot Out, both ranking events, McGill has been viewed as a player, very much like Selby, whose all-round game is better suited to the course and distance of the World Championship.

This was illustrated at the 2020 tournament, played behind closed doors due to the Covid pandemic, when he enjoyed a rousing run to the last four with victories over Jack Lisowski (10-9), Jamie Clarke (13-12) and Kurt Maflin (13-10).

An epic semi-final with Wilson saw McGill lead 16-15 only for his opponent to somehow win the final two frames amid frazzled scenes inside an empty Crucible.

McGill conceded 35 penalty points in the deciding frame to be left needing a snooker, only for Wilson to go in off on the final red with McGill suddenly handed the chance to win.

A fluked green late on enabled Wilson to scramble over the line winning a 62-minute frame by a record points total of 103–83.

‘Don’t know if I can go through this’ – Wilson and McGill in another final-frame green-ball epic

Video credit: TNT Sports

Further success followed at the 2021 Crucible event when he ended the defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan's hopes with a 13-12 win in the second round before losing 13-12 to Stuart Bingham in the last eight.

World No. 1 Judd Trump would then end McGill's hopes with a 13-11 win in the second round in 2022, before he enjoyed a 10-6 win over Trump in the first round a year later.

Despite again overcoming Lisowski 13-8 in the second round, he was ultimately denied 13-12 by Si Jiahui in the quarter-finals.

A win at the British Open would be McGill's career highlight, and perhaps mark the relaunch of a career that was tipped for untold riches only a decade ago.

"This is my biggest ever achievement," he said. "I don't consider the Shoot Out or Indian Open final a ranking event, so this is basically my first one.

"I have had a lot of good wins at the Crucible, but this would definitely top all of them."