World number 52 Scott Donaldson gained one of the best victories of his career as he beat eighth seed Mark Allen in a late-night finish on day three of the UK Championship.
Donaldson, whose father Hector died aged 70 on 2 October, was in tears as he walked to the arena before the match as the song he chose, Babylon by David Gray, was one of his dad’s favourites.
The 31-year-old Scot had caused a big shock as he fought back from 5-0 down to defeat former world champion Stuart Bingham 6-5 in the final qualifying round and Donaldson maintained that form at York Barbican.
He led former world number one Allen 3-0, with the Northern Irishman, who won this tournament in 2022, pulling one back before the mid-session interval.
But in a match full of long, tough frames, one of which lasted an hour with another around the 50-minute mark, Donaldson managed to keep nudging closer to victory, before sealing a 6-1 success.
There was drama too on table two as, for the first time in this year’s tournament, a deciding frame was needed with China’s Zhang Anda scraping a 6-5 win over England’s Gary Wilson.
Zhang now plays reigning China’s world champion Zhao Xintong after he gained a 6-1 victory over compatriot Long Zehuang in Monday’s afternoon session.
More to follow.
