Maguire holds Murphy at bay to march into last eight in Sheffield
SCOTLAND’S Stephen Maguire secured a place in the quarter-finals at the World Championships by beating Shaun Murphy 13-9 at The Crucible in Sheffield.
The rivals have feuded for two decades following an incident where Maguire was penalised a frame for forgetting his chalk and the Scotsman held off a late fightback from Murphy to seal victory.
He resumed yesterday morning with a 10-6 overnight lead and continued his quest to reach the last eight with a break of 68 before Murphy pulled a frame back.
Maguire then moved within one frame of victory but Murphy continued to battle, a 67 break earning him the following frame before he took the first after the mid-session interval to trail by three.
However, Maguire sealed victory in style, hitting the only century of the match with a 127 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with David Gilbert.
Maguire told the World Snooker Tour website: “[Murphy] looked like he was comfortable in that session, so I was starting to get geared up for a comeback and a close finish. Once I got my chance, I finished pretty well there.
“Me and Dave [Gilbert] get on and we’ve grown up with each other for the best part of 30 years. He is a great player. He’s not had a great season by his standards. I’m probably the same, so we are coming into a good game at the right time.
“The quarter-finals are the pressure matches. I’ve won a couple and lost a couple. It is a match you don’t want to lose in because that arena changes and it does become the best in the world with the one table.”
During Saturday’s session Murphy fist pumped after winning a frame and Maguire admitted it provided him some motivation.
“Shaun made a mistake. He knows
me well enough and I get down on myself,” Maguire said.
“He won a frame I should’ve won and I was sitting there hating myself when the fist pump came out and I thought, ‘you’re having it’ and all my attention went on that.
“It was satisfying beating a player as good as Shaun is in the last 16 of the World Championship.”
Murphy said: “I just wasn’t good enough throughout the match. It was typical of my season really. There were some glimpses of some good stuff but far too many self-inflicted mistakes to challenge Stephen. I thought he played really well and he was very solid. I wish him all the best for the rest of the tournament.”
Mark Allen edged 9-7 ahead in his last-16 meeting with John Higgins in a tight encounter.
After an even start, back-to-back wins in the 11th and 12th frames put Higgins in front, but Allen then took control by winning the next four frames on the bounce – which included a 94 break.
Stuart Bingham fended off Jack Lisowski’s comeback to also take a 9-7 lead into today’s session.
Bingham extended his lead to 6-3 after taking the ninth frame, but Lisowski responded by taking the next three to claw his way back into contention. Bingham finished strongly, though, to edge in front ahead of their final session.
He won a frame I should’ve won and I was sitting there hating myself when the fist pump came out and I thought, ‘you’re having it’ and all my attention went on that