McGill and Murphy reach British Open final

After winning four frames in a row to defeat fellow-briton John Higgins, Anthony McGill will face Shaun Murphy in Sunday’s British Open final.

McGill, who had lost to defending champion Mark Selby, won 6-3 to reach his first final in eight years.

McGill was the underdog against the six-time world champion who is currently ranked sixth, who has fallen to 57th in the world and reached his first semi-final in nearly three years.

The 34-year-old, who had trailed 2-1 and 3-2, was relieved to now have won his third professional match against Higgins in nine meetings.

After reaching his fourth ranking final, McGill declared, “It’s fantastic win for me because John is a legend.”

McGill’s career high of 12 put him in danger of losing out on the tour, but he is already guaranteed a place in the top 50.

The former world champion appeared to be in the groove when Higgins took the fifth frame with a break of 111.

However, McGill’s performance was more consistent, with breaks of 104 and 93 in the ninth and 93 in the eighth.

Murphy was hoping to end a 26-month drought without a ranking title in Saturday’s other semi-final. The 43-year-old won the first three frames against Selby, a four-time world champion.

With a break of 123, Selby fought back, but Murphy quickly gained control.

He won a tense fifth frame after going from 54-0 down before taking a break of 93 to take his place in Sunday’s showpiece and have a chance to win the top prize of £100,000.

Murphy expressed his satisfaction with his performance, saying, “I’ve had a very tough draw to the final, but hopefully that hasn’t taken too much out of me.”