Stephen Maguire admitted he had already made plans to return home to Glasgow before a remarkable rally saw him surge back to beat Mark Williams in the last 16 of the UK Championship.

Seemingly down and out at 4-0, Maguire was the first to admit he was playing badly and looked to be heading for the exit doors, even contacting his father regarding travel back to his native Scotland.

But after playing with more freedom in the second half of the match, he sealed an incredible 6-5 win to book his place in the quarter-finals at the Barbican.

“I told my dad to get the car ready – I looked at the time, it was 2.20pm, I thought we could be out of here by 3pm and back in Glasgow by 7pm – that’s the honest truth!” said Maguire afterwards.

“I just decided to pull the cue right back and hope for the best and they started going in.

“I’m a bit speechless really – the first four frames, I could not have been any worse.

“But I’ve just beaten the world champion. That’s a great scalp for me for what I’ve been doing in the game, I’ve not really been challenging the top boys.”

Watch the Snooker UK Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds