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Our weekly look at the game's rising stars continues with Anthony McGill, who at 18 years of age has already been touted as the next big Scottish talent.

Full name: Anthony McGill

Nationality: English

Age: 18 (DOB: February 5, 1981)

World Ranking: N/A

Pontin's International Open Series (PIOS) Ranking: 11 (after five events)

Career highlights:

Scottish U19 national champion and number one, 2007 and 2008; youngest player to represent Scotland U16s at Nations Cup; Scottish U16 national champion and number one, 2004, 2005 and 2006; Junior Pot Black finalist at the Crucible in 2006.

General:

Like another top Scottish player, Alan McManus, McGill hails from Glasgow and has enjoyed a distinguished junior career. He made his first century break aged just 10 and has since gone on to make two 147 breaks in practice, as well as a 142 in competitive action.

McGill has represented Scottish junior teams at U14 and U16 levels, and was youngest Scots player at the 2002 Nations Cup. He has been U14 national champion, three times U16 champion and twice U19 champion. He has been top-ranked U19 player for the past two seasons.

In 2006 he reached the final of the prestigious Junior Pot Black tournament at the Crucible and two years later the final of the European U19 Championship. Since then he has competed largely in the PIOS as he seeks to make the step up to the main tour.

Strengths:

Possesses outstanding natural talent, shown by the speed at which he picked up the game as a youngster. He also demonstrates superb work-rate and determination - his resolve to be the best will stand him in good stead. McGill is a natural potter and is developing an increasingly good temperament as a break-builder. He has a mature mental approach to the game that will help him on the big stage.

Weaknesses:

Despite his undoubted ability, McGill is working on his consistency in gameplay in order to sustain a competitive edge throughout a long match. For the Scotsman to make the next step up, he must develop a ruthless streak when at the table, a quality he showed at times in the PIOS, but not with the intensity required to advance further.

Prospects:

Billed as the next young talent in Scotland, McGill has an ominous task to emulate the current crop of stars, including Stephen Hendry and John Higgins. It appears to be only a matter of time before he establishes himself in the world rankings, and is more than capable of scoring consistently as consecutive tournament breaks of 125, 101, 56 and 127 demonstrate.

Trivia:

Home club: McGill's table at home.

He practises six hours a day.

His main hobby outside of snooker is playing poker.

Began playing on holiday and was bought his first pool table for Christmas.

Favourite song is 'Far Away' by Nickleback.

Favourite film is Shawshank Redemption.

Tiger Woods is his hero.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport