UK Snooker Championship 2025 LIVE: Watch Mark Allen v Scott Donaldson – scores, stream & results
How Donaldson produced an incredible fightback to earn York spotpublished at 19:26 GMT
An emotional Scott Donaldson produced an incredible comeback in the final round of qualifying as he fought back from 5-0 down to beat former world champion Stuart Bingham 6-5.
Donaldson, whose father Hector died aged 70 on 2 October, was messaging his wife about driving home when he was 4-0 down against the 2015 world champion in Wigan last week.
Bingham had knocked in breaks of 71 and 117 on the way to moving one frame away from victory and a place in the main tournament. However, Donaldson produced a stirring comeback to stun his rival as the Scotsman made breaks of 56 and 64 before a 110.
He then added breaks of 51, 91 and 64 to complete victory and book a spot at the UK Championship, which starts at the York Barbican on Saturday.
“I played the Scottish Open qualifiers two days after his [Hector] funeral – that was impossible,” Donaldson told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I went to Belfast for which he’d already booked his flights and hotel as he was coming to watch me [at the Northern Ireland Open].
“That was incredibly hard – I was just in my seat welling up. I don’t know how I managed to get three frames off Wu Yize [in a 4-3 defeat].
“Since then I’ve kind of been OK because I know he would always want me to just do my stuff. He loved watching me play. In my mind, he’s still there watching me play.”
