World number 52 Scott Donaldson gained one of the best victories of his career as he beat eighth seed Mark Allen 6-1 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 – the song he chose, Babylon by David Gray, was one of his dad’s favourites and played at his funeral.
“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, 31, admitted it had been “very difficult” to regain his composure during the match as he moved into a 3-0 lead over the former world number one.
Northern Ireland’s Allen, who won this tournament in 2022, pulled a frame back before the mid-session interval and looked well placed to make the match closer.
But in an encounter full of long, tough frames, one of which lasted an hour with another around the 50-minute mark, Donaldson kept nudging closer to victory, before sealing a superb success.
“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.