Brown brushes Scot Maguire aside to book his final spot
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER
Misfiring Scot Stephen Maguire blew his chance of a place in today’s Welsh Open final.
The Glaswegian suffered a shock 6-1 semi-final defeat to world No. 81 Jordan Brown at the Celtic Manor yesterday.
Northern Irishman Brown was just too hot to handle for Maguire, the world No. 8, as he romped to a place in the first ranking final of his 12-year professional career.
Brown came within a whisker of dropping off the main tour last season after a series of poor results, but the 33-year-old is now just one win away from his biggest-ever payday.
“I’m absolutely buzzing, it’s what dreams are made of,” beamed Brown. “My success is just down to hard work, but I’ve always believed in myself. I’m over the moon.
“I just treated it like any other match, even though there was a lot riding on it.
“I just told myself to be cool because my quarter-final win over Mark Selby was a real rollercoaster.
“I’m here to win the tournament, I’m not here to make up the numbers.”
Brown was an 750-1 outsider to win the event before a ball was potted and the Antrim potter has now guaranteed himself £30,000 for his progress thus far.
But he could walk away with the £70,000 top prize if he beats Ronnie O’sullivan or Mark Williams in today’s showcase final.
Breaks of 135,
113, 59, 56 and 52 did the damage as Brown outplayed Milton’s Maguire, who mustered a top break of just 33, in a onesided match.
A dejected Maguire moaned: “I’m done. I’m going to withdraw from the Gibraltar Open and I’m going to take a break and just gear up for the World Championship, that’s my plan.”