Scott Donaldson caused the biggest upset at the UK Championship so far as he notched an emotional victory over Mark Allen while coping with the death of his father.
World No 52 Donaldson reached the last 16 of snooker’s second-biggest tournament for the first time in his career as he ground out a 6-1 victory over Allen in a scrappy match that went late into Monday evening.
In a clash full of long, protracted frames, the 31-year-old Scot built a 3-0 lead and although his former world No 1 opponent pulled a frame back before the mid-session interval, Donaldson fought his way to a victory that sets up a clash against three-time UK champion Ding Junhui.
Donaldson’s father Hector died at the age of 70 in October and he was in tears walking into the arena before the match to the song Babylon by David Gray – one of his dad’s favourites that was played at his funeral.
He channelled that emotion into a truly gutsy display on the baize and acknowledged that the circumstances have helped him put things into perspective.
“Snooker is a game at the end of the day, it’s not life or death,” said Donaldson after the match.
“With what I have been through, I can tell you what’s important and what’s not important. When the pressure is coming on, I just tell myself ‘it’s a game of snooker’ and get on with it.
“I was fine until I got to the top of the stairs – and the last time I was in this venue was with my dad. It was good emotion though. Tough to go through but once I got the first frame, after that I was all right.”
Donaldson had done remarkably well just to reach the main stage of the UK Championship at York’s Barbican Centre, coming from 5-0 in his final qualifier against Stuart Bingham to triumph 6-5.
After that game, the Scot said he felt his dad was giving him a helping hand.
“He loved watching me play,” Donaldson said at the time. “In my mind, he’s still there watching me play. I just don’t know where he is right now.
“I don’t think that was me, I think it was my dad. I just got so much good luck at the end [against Bingham] which was very unusual and I think dad was doing something.”
On the flip side, world No 7 Allen became the highest-ranked player to lose in York so far and while paying credit to his opponent, the Northern Irishman was left frustrated by a sloppy performance that he wasn’t expecting.
“It took a big character to continue playing and all credit to Scott with everything he has been through. It looked like he was giving everything on every shot,” said Allen.
“I’m disappointed – I didn’t really see that performance coming. I prepared well for the tournament but I was just completely outplayed and 6-1 was not a flattering score.
“I felt pretty good going out there, but the balls were not doing what was being asked of them. I was really looking forward to the tournament, I’ve got good memories of York but everything I’ve been good at over the last few years just didn’t happen.
“No complaints, just a bad day at the office.”
