Stephen Maguire Archives

‘I did well to get out of there before I broke something’ – Maguire reflects on wild celebration

April 28, 2024

Stephen Maguire reflected on his wild celebration against Shaun Murphy, admitting he was lucky to get out of the arena without breaking something.

Maguire and Murphy are fierce rivals dating back to their days at junior level, while an incident at the 2004 Grand Prix when the former was docked a frame after forgetting his chalk only ramped up the animosity.

This was the first meeting between the pair since they clashed at the 2022 World Championship, and tensions were high at the Crucible.

Murphy celebrated winning a couple of frames with a clench of the fist, which Maguire responded to in manic style.

After taking the 16th to open up a four-frame lead at the end of the second session, Maguire punched the table in celebration before swinging a fist in the air as he left the arena.

“It is not like me, I usually do that when I get beaten,” Maguire told Eurosport’s Rachel Casey. “There were things happening out there, he was giving it some and I was getting riled up.

“I was holding on and that was a good frame to steal, so something happened.

“I did well to get out of there before I broke something.”

Asked how his right hand was feeling, Maguire added: “These are rock solid. I have done it so many times, they are rock solid.”

Maguire admitted the match was won on the back of his excellent safety game.

“I think looking back at the first two sessions, safety made the difference as we were not scoring and not doing anything in the balls,” the Scot said. “It was coming down to safety all the time, and I sort of had his number for the safety.”

Maguire will face David Gilbert in the quarter-finals, and will keep his feet on the ground.

“I have been here before,” Maguire said. “I’ve been to a few quarter-finals and a couple of semis so there is still a long way to go.

“If you are still in the tournament you are still punching, so you just get your head down and try your hardest.”

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O’Sullivan gains two-frame advantage over Day, Maguire reaches quarter-finals

April 28, 2024

Ronnie O’Sullivan will take a two-frame advantage over Ryan Day into this evening’s session at the World Snooker Championship, having gone 5-3 up at the conclusion of the Sunday morning session at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan, who is seeking a record-breaking eighth world title, thrashed Jackson Page 10-1 to set up the encounter against Day, who had got past Barry Hawkins 10-8.

Day got off to a positive start, but missed a routine red after 16 points. It took just seven minutes for O’Sullivan to capitalise on this mistake, wrapping up the first frame with a flawless 123 clearance.

It appeared as if the world No. 1 would be heading for back-to-back centuries in the second frame, but he missed the penultimate red to end his break on 84.

Despite trailing 2-0, Day battled back before the mid-session interval. In an error-strewn third frame for both players, the world No. 18 finally got on the board.

O’Sullivan looked out of sorts again in the fourth frame, with Day capitalising on a missed red to bring the encounter level.

‘How intimidating it must be…’ – O’Sullivan breezes to break of 84 against Day

After returning from a brief break, O’Sullivan took the lead with a break of 83. He then raced to 51 in the sixth frame, but missed a red to give Day a chance on the table.

His opponent squandered his chance, however, and O’Sullivan added 36 to restore his two-frame advantage.

Still Day did not give up, making one of the centuries of the tournament so far with a superb 115 clearance.

O’Sullivan responded with his own dominant performance, securing a 92 break to take a 5-3 lead into this evening’s session.

O’Sullivan superbly sinks long last red as he takes fifth frame against Day

Meanwhile, Stephen Maguire beat Shaun Murphy 13-9 to set up a quarter-final tie against David Gilbert.

Maguire had a 10-6 lead heading into this morning’s session, needing just three frames to progress.

It was a scrappy start to the 17th frame but Maguire put together 68 to increase his advantage, before Murphy dug deep to reduce the deficit to four frames again with a break of 47.

The momentum swung back in favour of Maguire, who went within one frame from victory with a break of 73.

Again Murphy clung on, this time winning two frames on the bounce with breaks of 67 and 46.

His resistance finally faltered, however, with Maguire winning the match in style after a brilliant 127. The world No. 28 will now be back in action against Gilbert on Tuesday, April 30.

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Maguire battles to victory over Carter in first round at the Crucible

April 21, 2024

Stephen Maguire marked his return to the Crucible for the first time since 2022 with a battling 10-7 win over Ali Carter.

The Scot has an enviable World Championship record, with a host of quarter-final and semi-final appearances.

After battling through qualifying, he arrived match-sharp and that stood him in good stead as he battled back from 5-4 down after the first session to take down this season’s Masters runner-up.

Carter made a positive start to the final session with a break of 63 in the opening frame of the night but missed frame-ball red.

A Maguire counter faltered when he failed to gain position on the penultimate red, seemingly paving the way for Carter to extend his lead.

Carter had two other bites at frame ball, one easy, but both failed to drop. His potting troubles gave encouragement to Maguire, and the Scot produced an astounding clearance on the colours – yellow and green were exceptional pots – as he drew level at 5-5.

‘Unbelievable, brilliant’ – Maguire pulls off stunning clearance of colours against Carter

There were some alarming misses from Carter in the 10th and that continued in the 11th. But, after opening up a lead, he was able to edge over the line to restore a one-frame lead.

Maguire looked strong in mopping up the colours in the 10th and he attacked his break in the 12th with a similarly forward-thinking mindset. The two-time Crucible semi-finalist took the attacking option when potting his opening colour – a brown to left middle – and he made 69 to get back on level terms.

Carter steadied what appeared to be a listing ship with a hard-working break of 48, which came after Maguire pulled off a miracle escape from a snooker.

‘What a shot’ – Maguire makes amazing escape from a snooker against Carter

The number was nothing to shout about, but it was made with authority and proved enough for him to get back in front at 7-6 heading into the final interval.

The arm-wrestle continued in the 14th as Carter got in but lacked any sort of cue-ball control and broke down.

Maguire, who benefited from a huge fluke at the start of the frame, inherited a favourable table and he made the most of it with a break of 55 to draw level.

Maguire benefits from huge fluke against Carter

The 15th frame saw Maguire get his nose in front for the first time since the fifth frame, and he did it in impressive fashion with a run of 80 – his highest break of the session.

Carter’s potting was not sharp on Sunday evening and he presented a chance to Maguire in the 16th after wriggling a long red.

Maguire did not close out the frame at the first time of asking, but returned to the table to make 45 to get within one frame of victory.

Carter’s match was summed up in the 17th as he missed two pots – one tough and the other easy. Maguire made 35 off the first chance and 21 off the second.

The match was not mathematically beyond Carter, but he looked a spent force and a further miss saw Maguire edge to the stage where his opponent required snookers.

Carter played on, but Maguire held his nerve to secure his place in round two where he will face either Shaun Murphy or Lyu Haotian.

Ford eases past Walden to set up Trump showdown

Tom Ford set up a clash with Judd Trump by wrapping up a 10-6 win over Ricky Walden.

Ford was comfortably the better player over the two sessions and was never threatened.

Returning with a 6-3 lead, Ford won the opener with a break of 80.

Walden took the next two but Ford won the frames either side of the interval and cruised to the winning line of a match played in good spirit, with Walden tapping his opponent’s cue by way of a concession in the 16th frame.

Walden concedes match by flicking Ford’s cue at World Championship

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