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With a late-night victory over Mark Allen on day three of the UK Championship, world number 52 Scott Donaldson won one of his best victories of his career.

The song he chose, Babylon by David Gray, was one of his father’s favorites and was played at his funeral, and his father, Hector, 70, passed away in tears as he walked to the arena before the game.

After the match, Donaldson said, “Snooker is a game, not life or death.

“With what I’ve been through, I can tell you what’s important and what’s not.” I just say, “It’s a game of snooker,” when the pressure is on, and I just get on with it.

“I was fine until I reached the top of the stairs,” my father once said. However, it was positive emotion. Although difficult to go through, I was okay once I received the first frame.

Donaldson, 31, acknowledged that keeping his composure as he jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the former world number one had been “very difficult” during the match.

Allen, who won this competition in 2022, pulled a frame back before the midsession break and appeared to be in a good position to tie the game.

However, Donaldson kept stumbling closer to victory in a fight that was full of lengthy, difficult frames, one of which lasted an hour and another around the 50-minute mark, before sealing a fantastic victory.

Donaldson has maintained that form at York Barbican despite going from 5-0 to 6-5 to defeat then-world champion Stuart Bingham in the final qualifying round.

He will now face three-time champion Ding Junhui, who defeated Xu Si of China with a 6-4 victory earlier on Monday.

Allen is currently the player with the highest-ranking first-round loss.

The 39-year-old added, “I’m disappointed – I didn’t really see that performance coming.” I did a good job of getting ready for the tournament, but my total defeat to 6-1 was unacceptable.

The balls were not doing what was being asked of them, despite what I had to say. I had a great time at the tournament, and while I’m fond of York, everything I’ve learned to love it has just fallen apart.

No complaints, just a bad day at work, I’d say.

A deciding frame was required for China’s Zhang Anda to scrape a 6-5 victory over England’s Gary Wilson, which added drama to table two.

Wilson, the tournament’s 12th seed, made breaks of 58, 52, 65, and 91 while he was 5-3 up, but Zhang, who had a maximum of 147 breaks last year, recovered and took the final three frames to claim the win.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan advises the batsmen to master their attacking “Bazball” style and practice a more aplomb in the second Ashes Test.

After England suffered an astonishing two-day defeat in the first Test in Perth, where the tourists’ shot selection was heavily criticized, Australia are now 1-0 up in the series.

In Brisbane, Ben Stokes’ side will play a pink ball during a day-night test.

Australia have won 13 of their 14 day-night tests, including three against England, with a formidable record.

Vaughan claimed that England should have better game awareness at the Gabba and that there was “arrogance” about how they handled Perth.

“This England side dances down,” They “fly toward the danger,” Vaughan said.

“I’m not too sure that’s a wise decision,” the ballplayer said. Play the traditional way.

I’m not suggesting that you constantly play like Geoff Boycott or Alastair Cook. However, when the ball is slightly zipping around, use your senses.

They are excellent entertainers, but they haven’t won a fifth or fourth series in three or four years. I’ll give a tip about England. It is ineffective.

Vaughan argued that England should focus on using a more measured approach to frustrate left-arm quick Mitchell Starc in Brisbane.

Starc is widely regarded as the best bowler in the world with a pink ball in hand and has 81 wickets for his average of 17.09 in day-night games.

Mitchell Starc, who won the Ashes series for England in 2005, is the aggressor and must take wickets, said Vaughan, who added.

There is no way Starc won’t bowl a run because he is there to get wickets if you leave a few outside off the stump. It possesses that awareness and sense of game.

Vaughan said he was concerned about how England’s bowlers would handle the heat in Brisbane and that “a lot of overs” would be required.

With fast bowler Mark Wood expected to miss the match with an injury, England could use Shoaib Bashir as a spinner or switch to Will Jacks, who would also add depth to their batting.

Vaughan said he would stick with an all-out pace attack because England needed to win the series and face off.

If England bowls well with the seam bowlers, he said, they will take 20 wickets.

I wouldn’t play spinner, in my opinion. I’d be playing all my quicks because England currently doesn’t have a good spinner for these circumstances.

“I can’t imagine Shoaib Bashir or Will Jacks taking four or five wickets at the Gabba.” Josh Tongue is my favorite. He’s a wicket taker, if you look at his record. He would approach me.

Stokes, the England captain, should not be hesitant to start introducing himself into the attack sooner rather than later, according to Vaughan.

Ben Stokes bowling early appeals to me. He had to bowl earlier in Perth, but it was crying out. He needs to realize how effective a bowler he is, Vaughan said.

Thomas Frank, the owner of Tottenham, claims he has faith in himself and is “very confident” in his decision to win.

The opening-weekend game against Burnley was Spurs’ only Premier League home game since Frank’s June signing from Brentford.

Some fans have criticized the Dane, who sits 12th in the league table and has just 18 points from 13 games.

Frank responded to reporters by saying, “Yes, I’m very confident. I’m very confident.

They appear to be good guys, knowledgeable about running businesses, and interested in learning about football.

“I believe every successful dynasty and every successful club have taken time when we’re dealing with intelligent people,” said one.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s error caused Fulham’s second goal in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat, Spurs’ 10th home league defeat of 2025, to receive booed by Tottenham Hotspur Stadium fans.

After the defeat, the Dane claimed that Vicario’s supporters “can’t be true Tottenham fans” and that their actions were “completely unacceptable.”

Frank said he understood the disappointment of fans before his team took on Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Tuesday (20:15 GMT) just below them in the 13th tier.

He said, “I completely understand the frustration,” as I said after the game.

There will always be frustration if you don’t win. That is typical.

Particularly because we haven’t won as much at home this year as we would have liked, both historically. So the frustration intensifies a little more.

Without fans, we would be nothing. Without the fans, there is no club. Without our incredible fans, nothing could exist at Tottenham. We require one another.

My point is that I want to build a fortress during matches because that is what we need each other.

Goalkeeper Vicario came out to deal with a long ball when Spurs were already 1-0 up inside six minutes against Fulham, but Harry Wilson’s weak clearance prevented him from curling a shot into the open goal from the touchline.

Spurs fans booed the Italian when the ball came to him moments later, and the team was also jeered off at half-time and the final whistle as a result.

After the game, I spoke with him, and he assured me that he was fine, Frank said.

Vic is a relatively resilient player when faced with setbacks like that. It might have hurt others more.

How well you handle mistakes as a goalkeeper and player is largely determined by how well you develop as both a player and a goalkeeper.

Vicario apologized to the fans after the game for his error and the outcome.

The 29-year-old told Sky Sports, “I take responsibility for that because I made a mistake with my second goal.”