World Snooker Championship: Anthony McGill leads Stuart Bingham 9-7, Kyren Wilson & Neil Robertson level at 8-8

Anthony McGill reached the semi-finals of the 2020 World Championships, but lost to Kieren Wilson in the final.

Anthony McGill produced a sensational snooker performance to take a 6-4 lead into the World Championship quarter-finals against Stuart Bingham (9-7).

The Scot, who defeated defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the round of 16, broke 126, 83, 92, 130 and 75 to take a two-frame lead.

Bingham, the 2015 champion, scored 81 runs and 120 runs in the high-flying session of the evening at The Crucible.

Kieren Wilson also fought his way back to 8-8 with Neil Robertson.

After taking a 5-3 lead on Tuesday morning, Wilson, last year’s finalist, found himself down 6-6 in a mini session before a break from 126 put Australian Robertson back in the lead.

England’s Wilson won the next two, but third-seeded Robertson, who won the world championship in 2010 but has only made it past the quarterfinals once since, won the final round of the evening with a 66.

The pair will take on each other at 10am on Wednesday morning, while McGill and Bingham will take on each other in the afternoon from 2.30pm.

After losing the first two frames of the morning session to come out on top 4-4 at the end, Bingham looked to take control by winning the first two frames of the evening with ease.

But McGill fought back and although Bingham regained the lead at 7-6, the 16th seed, who reached the semi-finals last year, won the final three points of the set in dominant fashion.

Former champions cheer on the crowd at the Crucible

Judd Trump was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Championships last year by losing to Kieren Wilson.

The day in Sheffield was similar when Judd Trump and Sean Murphy, in first place, finished the first quarter-final session 4-4.

All but one was a series of 67 or more in every frame, with both players playing out big breakouts and Trump getting back to 4-3 at 105 before Murphy won the final frame.

Mark Selby defeated three-time champion Mark Williams at noon 6-2.

The two top-25 races continue Wednesday for the intermediate and final sessions.

Selby and Williams return in the morning, while Trump and Murphy return in the afternoon before both sides start in the evening.

Williams, 46, claimed to be the oldest semi-finalist since Ray Reardon in 1985, but was thwarted by breaks of 56, 121, 63, 90 and 76 from Selby before the Welshman gave himself hope with 111 to make the final stroke of the day.

The quality of the other table was high, as was the largest audience of the tournament – the Crucible increased its capacity to 75% in the quarter-finals and semi-finals for a potentially sold-out final – enjoyed high quality snooker with four former champions in action.

Crump, the 2019 champion, set the tone with a break of 87 in the first round, but Englishman Murphy, the 2005 winner, answered with rounds of 80, 79 and 81 to lead 3-2 before losing his sixth.