Both players will have the opportunity to reach a maiden world final when they face off against each other in the last four.
Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill will clash at the World Championship semi-final stage at the Crucible Theatre.
The winner after the allotted 33 frames will advance to the final for the first time in their career, with a meeting against either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Mark Selby in store.
Wilson and McGill’s respective paths to the last four couldn’t have been much more different this year.
While the latter has contested five matches to reach this point as a qualifier, eighth seed Wilson has required just two victories so far.
The Kettering cueist was the beneficiary of Anthony Hamilton’s last-minute withdrawal from the competition due to fears over the authorities’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
A brace of 13-9 triumphs, therefore, have proven enough for the Kettering cueist in matching his semi-finals run from two years ago.
Wilson’s most recent success over reigning champion Judd Trump will have surely provided him with the injection of confidence necessary for a realistic title tilt, and stamina shouldn’t play a role in the outcome of his fortunes this year.
McGill, meanwhile, began his 2020 World Championship campaign in the preliminaries, hammering both Jak Jones and Sam Baird to the loss of just two frames at the English Institute of Sport.
A couple of dramatic encounters ensued at the Crucible – first, a 10-9 defeat of Jack Lisowski in the first round, before a heated 13-12 downing of Jamie Clarke in the last 16.
McGill subsequently withstood a late charge from Kurt Maflin to see off the challenge of the Norwegian with a 13-10 win in the quarter-finals.
The match-up between Wilson and McGill is an interesting one as it wasn’t so long ago that their trajectories in the sport seem intertwined with one another.
When McGill beat Wilson to capture the Indian Open trophy in 2016, it appeared as though the pair would both be destined for the highest echelons and many more high-profile clashes against one another.
Yet, the Scot’s form has tailed off noticeably in the last couple of campaigns – so much so that his ranking has plummeted from a high of 13 in 2018 to a current low of 39, albeit that will rise again significantly after the conclusion of this event.
On the other hand, Wilson has continued to be a steady and consistent force, proceeding to become a mainstay of the top ten in the world’s list.
Since that battle in India, the 28 year-old has reached another six ranking event title deciders, picking up silverware on two occasions, and he has also featured in the finals of both the prestigious Masters and Champion of Champions invitationals.
A lot of people say that the over-40s dominate the game and that the younger players aren’t good enough.
Still, it’s great to see two players in their 20s (Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill) compete in the #worldsnookerchampionship semi-finals to get the the final at the Crucible!
— Cluster of Reds (@clusterofreds1) August 11, 2020
There’s no questioning the fact that Wilson will be the overwhelming favourite over the next few days, with McGill the clear underdog.
The Glaswegian has played well but has mostly capitalised on facing opponents who weren’t producing the goods, and that is unlikely to be the case against Wilson.
McGill may boast an overall head-to-head advantage from their prior fixtures, but that’ll likely count for very little during the taxing format that incorporates four sessions over three days of action.
The 29 year-old will have to improve his standard if he’s to mount a serious challenge upon gracing the single table set-up for the first time in his career.
Wilson, who has a terrific recent record at the Crucible, will be expected then to advance to the final two on Saturday and Sunday.
Live coverage of Wilson versus McGill will be on the BBC, Eurosport, and Matchroom.Live.
Click here to view the draw
Featured photo credit: WST
.@KyrenWilson is about to do what every snooker player dreams of…
Play in the single table set-up at the Crucible! #ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/znOjznPMB7
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) August 11, 2020
Tomorrow, Anthony McGill will grace the one-table Crucible setup for the first time, after bettering his 2015 debut run to the quarter-finals.
Will he be phoning practice partners Higgins & Maguire for advice?
Sounds like he might not need to! 👀 #ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/UBy0jxlzdy
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) August 11, 2020
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