World number 52 Scott Donaldson gained one of the best victories of his career as he beat eighth seed Mark Allen 6-1 in a late-night finish 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 arena before the match – the song he chose, Babylon by David Gray, was one of his dad’s favourites and played at his funeral.
“Snooker is a game at the end of the day, it’s not life or death,” said Donaldson after the match.
“With what I have been through, I can tell you what’s important and what’s not important. When the pressure is coming on, I just tell myself ‘it’s a game of snooker’ and get on with it.
“I was fine until I got to the top of the stairs – and the last time I was in this venue was with my dad. It was good emotion though. Tough to go through but once I got the first frame, after that I was all right.”
Donaldson, 31, admitted it had been “very difficult” to regain his composure during the match as he moved into a 3-0 lead over the former world number one.