Jack Lisowski and Anthony McGill have been battling it out on the baize since they were kids and will do so again at the Crucible this year, for a place in the World Championship quarter-finals.
Lisowski got his campaign in Sheffield underway with a win over Noppon Saengkham while McGill downed 2019 champion Judd Trump in the last 32.
Their last 16 clash begins on Saturday and will continue a long history between the pair that stretches back to their days on the junior scene.
McGill turned 32 in February, while Lisowski reaches the same birthday in June, so they were very much in the same age bracket, and they agree that the Englishman enjoyed the lion’s share of the success.
‘I’m not close with Anthony but we played in loads of tournaments together when we were kids,’ said Lisowski.
‘I used to beat him loads, ask him about that. I used to beat him loads and then he turned 16 and then he started beating me!’
McGill was asked about it, and he did not try and he was in full agreement with Jackpot.
‘Absolutely!’ McGill said. ‘He used to beat me all the time, he used to beat everybody.
‘I was not on the same level as Jack Lisowski. I was not at the same level as most of them.
‘It doesn’t really matter too much who’s the best at 14. As long as you’re making small improvements consistently then that’s all that matters.
‘The junior standard back in the day was incredible. I don’t even think Jack was the best player, I think the best player was Stephen Cragie, Sam’s brother, and he doesn’t even play anymore.
‘The junior tournaments were tough. They were much better than me.
I’ve closed the gap a little bit, he probably finds it much harder to beat me now. But he could easily beat me with a session to spare.’
McGill has certainly got his own back as professionals, winning two of their three meetings in major competitions, including in the first round of the World Championship three years ago.
The Scot prevailed in a deciding frame, with Lisowski having particularly painful memories of that 10-9 defeat.
‘McGill beat me here during Covid with nobody watching,’ he said. ‘He potted this screamer blue at 9-9. That one sucked!’
Former Indian Open and ShootOut champion McGill has nothing but praise for Lisowski, and although he doesn’t want it to start in the coming days, he hopes the fluent, attacking talent starts to pick up silverware as it would be good for the sport.
‘He’s incredible,’ McGill said of Lisowski. ‘I’m not desperate for him to breakthrough and start winning, ultimately it doesn’t matter to me, but I think it would be incredible for the game.
‘Can you imagine if he became a serial winner with the way he plays? It’s like a [Roger] Federer really.
‘It would just be so good for the game, hopefully not this week because I’d like to win the match.
‘He’s got everything, he’s so easy to watch. I think that first title could open the floodgates. You wonder what’s holding him back because it feels like he’s got everything that you need.
‘He’s not going to go his whole career without making that breakthrough, it will happen soon.’
Having watched McGill beat his mate Trump, and with the knowledge that the Scot has gone further than he has in Sheffield in the past, with a memorable run to the semi-finals in 2020, Lisowski is well aware that he has a huge task ahead of him over three sessions to come.
‘Anthony comes alive at this tournament,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what happens to him the rest of the year, but he looks so good here.’
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