REACTION...? I’D GET FINED
Maguire left raging with himself after KO as Higgo suffers
STEPHEN MAGUIRE branded himself “atrocious” last night after his latest Crucible first-round car crash.
The Scot lost 10 of the last 11 frames as he was stunned 10-4 by World Championship qualifier Jamie Jones of Wales.
And it’s the eighth time in the past 11 years the world No.8 has fallen at the first hurdle.
The former UK champion, who had just one 50-plus break, said: “I’m frustrated, I don’t think there’s a word for how I played and if there is, I’d get fined.
“I was atrocious but the conditions were diabolical and that doesn’t help.
“I said it was shocking when I was 3-1 up so I don’t mind saying it now. It’s not sour grapes.”
Jones, who reached the last eight on his debut in 2012, said: “This venue holds no fear for me – I’ve seen a few qualifiers come here and collapse. I never have.”
Snooker snail John Higgins suffered humiliation as he was hauled off two frames early during his first-round match against China’s Tian Pengfei.
The struggling Scot endured a horror first session as he recovered from 4-1 down to finish up 4-3 behind ahead of today’s return to the green baize.
Higgins had breaks of 52 and 71 before winning a 46-minute seventh frame – the longest of the tournament.
And Stephen Hendry, commentating for the BBC after failing to get through qualifying, said: “He’s suffering out there. There’s no worse place when you are struggling with your game.
“John just can’t wait to get out of there, end this session and come back on Monday.”
World No.16 Anthony McGill resumes tonight 5-4 ahead of Ricky Walden after the Scot racked up runs of 119, 88 and 61.
David Gilbert beat Chris Wakelin 10-4 as Aussie Neil Robertson, world champion 11 years ago, crushed China’s Liang Wenbo 10-3.
Shaun Murphy famously called to “get the engravers ready” after being thumped by Robertson in the second round back in 2019.
But the man himself said: “At some point you have to cope with becoming the favourite in an event – I’ve always been able to deal with it.
“And it is the really big guns who cope with it the best.
“Over the last seven or eight years, in five of those years I’ve blitzed my opponents and everyone is saying, ‘His name’s on the trophy’ already.
“When you run into opponents who make it incredibly tough for you, the onus has to be on you to make it an aggressive game, just to play the matches on my terms and not be worried by the other guy profiting off any mistakes.”