Snooker news - McManus wins 11-frame thriller over Higgins at UK Championship, Williams coasts

Updated 02/12/2018 at 10:14 GMT

Alan McManus defeated John Higgins 6-5 in a big shock in the second round of the UK Championship.

Snooker : McManus was not satisfied with his cue

Image credit: Eurosport

Three-time champion Higgins took the first frame, but three on the bounce for McManus gave him a commanding lead.

Watch the UK Championship live on Eurosport and the Eurosport Player

The fourth seed battled back with four consecutive frames to take Higgins to 5-3 and a frame away from victory, before McManus pulled one back. McManus then sealed victory with two dominant displays in the last two frames.

An out-of-sorts Higgins said in his post-match press conference that he would consider retiring at the end of the season.

“John was nowhere near his best – I know that,” McManus told Eurosport. “He let me off the hook in the end

“It was nice to win but I will need to improve again – I’m not quite happy.

“He’s obviously struggling with his game a little. But he’s still so hard to play against.”

John Higgins heads for wrong table

Earlier in the morning session, Mark Williams beat Daniel Wells 6-0 at the second round of his UK Championship tie.

Williams eased into the third round without dropping a frame.

Wells could only manage a single break above 50, scoring 58 in one visit in the third frame.

Willias hit two centuries for his win, with a highest break of 124 in the fifth frame.

“It’s probably the best I’ve played since the final in Yushan in the second ranking tournament of the year," Williams told Eurosport.

“It’s nice to play well – I’ve been struggling a little bit.”

Stephen Maguire edged Scott Donaldson by two frames with a 6-4 win.

In the evening session, number six seed Barry Hawkins brushed off Ian Burns to win 6-0. Stuart Bingham and Joe Perry were also safely through, against Kurt Maflin and Michael Holt respectively.

'Can you believe that??' - Burns gets incredible fluke in match against Hawkins

ROUND TWO RESULTS

Jack Liswoski 6-1 Mei Xi Wen
Zhou Yuelong 6-4 Mark Davis
Neil Robertson 6-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Daniel Wells 0-6 Mark Williams
Xiao Guodong 6-3 Ben Woollaston
Stephen Magure 6-4 Scott Donaldson
Tian Pengfei 6-2 Jimmy Robertson
Alan McManus 6-5 John Higgins
Barry Hawkins 6-0 Ian Burns
Joe Perry 6-1 Michael Holt
Stuart Bingham 6-5 Kurt Maflin
Mark King 6-2 Li Hang
Kyren Wilson 6-2 Mike Dunn
Tom Ford 6-5 Robert Milkins
Lu Ning 6-4 Mark Joyce
Akani Songsermsawad 6-5 James Cahill

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