World quantity 52 Scott Donaldson gained among the finest victories of his profession as he beat eighth seed Mark Allen 6-1 in a late-night end 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 world earlier than the match – the track he selected, Babylon by David Grey, was certainly one of his dad’s favourites and performed at his funeral.

“Snooker is a sport on the finish of the day, it is not life or demise,” stated Donaldson after the match.

“With what I’ve been by way of, I can let you know what’s vital and what’s not vital. When the stress is approaching, I simply inform myself ‘it is a sport of snooker’ and get on with it.

“I used to be effective till I acquired to the highest of the steps – and the final time I used to be on this venue was with my dad. It was good emotion although. Robust to undergo however as soon as I acquired the primary body, after that I used to be all proper.”

Donaldson, 31, admitted it had been “very troublesome” to regain his composure throughout the match as he moved right into a 3-0 lead over the previous world primary.

Northern Eire’s Allen, who received this event in 2022, pulled a body again earlier than the mid-session interval and seemed properly positioned to make the match nearer.

However in an encounter filled with lengthy, powerful frames, certainly one of which lasted an hour with one other across the 50-minute mark, Donaldson saved nudging nearer to victory, earlier than sealing an outstanding success.

“It took a giant character to proceed enjoying and all credit score to Scott with all the things he has been by way of. It seemed like he was giving all the things on each shot,” stated Allen.