GLASWEGIAN Anthony McGill set his sights on winning the Betfred World Championship after seeing off last year’s runner-up Shaun Murphy to claim his third major Crucible scalp yesterday.

After posting stellar wins over Stephen Maguire and Mark Selby to reach the quarter-finals on his debut Sheffield mission 12 months ago, this time the 25-year-old dumped out Murphy in the same way Ali Carter dispatched defending champion Stuart Bingham on Saturday night.

Next up for Carter will be Alan McManus, who beat his fellow Scot Stephen Maguire 10-7 yesterday. As Murphy headed for home, beaten 10-8 and joining Bingham on the first-round casualty list, McGill dared to dream. “I possibly could win it,” he said. “But it’d be nice to better last year’s result.”

Breathtaking scoring saw McGill plunder breaks of 64, 85, 81, 50, 117 and a closing 97 to roar back from 6-4 adrift.

Murphy had been his quarter-final conqueror last year, but time he had the measure of the Nottingham-based 2005 world champion, who applauded McGill at the match’s end.

Beaten Murphy later revealed he and partner Elaine are to become parents in August, with a baby boy on the way.

The quietly-spoken McGill said of his victory: “I’m extremely pleased. It was a really tough draw for me. I thought I handled myself well.”

A tough second-round match against in-form Marco Fu comes next for him, starting on Thursday.

After winning through three qualifying rounds, McGill was tuned up for match conditions, which arguably gave him an advantage. He said: “The difference between top players and qualifiers is very, very marginal. Qualifiers winning matches doesn’t surprise me. It might surprise the public but it doesn’t surprise the players.”

Despite struggling in the year since his first Crucible run, McGill looked in terrific form and he takes inspiration wherever he looks inside the arena. He said: “You see it on the TV and when you’re out there playing you think, ‘That’s where Ronnie [O’Sullivan] stood when he made his 147’, or ‘That’s where Stephen [Hendry] must have walked on this bit of carpet’. It’s an honour to be there. I just think it’s perfect.”

Murphy’s good news at home has given him a new appreciation for where snooker belongs in life’s priorities. He said: “I’m obviously disappointed but I think the fact I’ve a child on the way has changed my perspective on a lot of things.

“It’s just a game of snooker. I played really well and my preparation couldn’t have been better, but unfortunately I played against someone who played even better than I did on the day. I thought it was a great match.

“If he can keep his composure, keep himself under wraps and keep playing with enjoyment, he could take some stopping.”

O’Sullivan set out on his bid for a sixth title in the afternoon session and built a 6-3 lead over Tamworth’s David Gilbert. The title favourite made breaks of 72, 84 and 71 twice in establishing control of a match that finishes in today’s morning session.

Gilbert played his part, and the highlight arguably came from him, a terrific 125 break in the seventh frame. That match continues today, as does Graeme Dott’s encounter with Mark Williams of Wales. Dott’s fellow Scot John Higgins is also in action, taking on another Welshman, Ryan Day.