An emotional Scott Donaldson said «I think my dad was doing something» after he came back from 5-0 down to beat Stuart Bingham 6-5 in the final round of qualifying for the UK Championship.
Donaldson, whose father Hector died aged 70 on 2 October, was messaging his wife about driving home when he was 4-0 down against the 2015 world champion in Wigan.
Bingham had knocked in breaks of 71 and 117 on the way to moving one frame away from victory and a place in the main tournament.
However, Donaldson produced a stirring comeback to stun his rival as the Scotsman made breaks of 56 and 64 before a 110.
He then added breaks of 51, 91 and 64 to complete victory and book a spot at the UK Championship, which starts at the York Barbican on Saturday.
«I played the Scottish Open qualifiers two days after his [Hector] funeral – that was impossible,» Donaldson told BBC Radio 5 Live.
«I went to Belfast for which he’d already booked his flights and hotel as he was coming to watch me [at the Northern Ireland Open].
«That was incredibly hard – I was just in my seat welling up. I don’t know how I managed to get three frames off Wu Yize [in a 4-3 defeat].
«Since then I’ve kind of been OK because I know he would always want me to just do my stuff.
«He loved watching me play. In my mind, he’s still there watching me play. I just don’t know where he is right now.»
Donaldson added: «I don’t think that was me, I think it was my dad. I just got so much good luck at the end [against Bingham] which was very unusual and I think dad was doing something.»
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