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MAGUIRE SURVIVES WOBBLE
FORMER UK Open Champion Stephen Maguire overcame a mid session wobble to advance to the second round of the UK Open with a 9-6 victory over Michael Holt
Maguire had endured a horrible few days with the death of his grandfather Paddy, and arrived in Telford for the UK Championships for a first round encounter against the world number 24 from Nottingham
The 2004 champion was quickest out of the traps in the early stages of the best of seventeen frame clash against the Nottingham man as he quickly established a 4-1 lead. But Maguire's lapse in concentration, and poor shot selections were to cost him the lead he had worked so painstaikenly to build when in the eighth frame left in trouble by Holt's safety he tried to pot his way out of trouble and left a red sitting over a corner pocket. Grabbing his chance Holt dropped in the red and picked off the balls one by one as they came to the final red. The red was nestling just off the side cushion and Holt normally so reliable with the rest missed it. Maguire though failed to take the chance when it presented itself - and how he was to regret it when he missed a straightforward green allowing Holt to step and knock in green to black to level at 4-4 at the interval.
The interval though had come at the worst possible time for Holt as it interrupted the momentum that he had worked so hard to wrest from his opponant- Maguire probably was delighted to get out of the arena and back to his hotel room. Resuming he took the first two frames of the night to lead 6-4. Holt knew he had to knuckle down if he wasn't to suffer a heavy defeat. Holt was getting chances but he wasn't able to convert on them. And when he jawed a red to the top corner Maguire pounced with a break of 31- and then forced Maguire into taking an ambitious red to the top corner which rebounded towards the centre pocket - and that was all the help Maguire needed as he rolled in abreak of 32 to extend his lead to 7-4.
Showing the grit of his favourite football team Nottingham Forest Holt though refused to give in and started to show the potting skills of which we all know Michael is capable of. A early flurry of 19 at last brought to an end of 26 minutes without a point- and when Maguire left Michael with a fine cut to the centre Holt grabbed his chance and stroked in a break of 75 to close to 7-5. And it should have been 7-6 to Holt, but after establishing an early lead of 44 his safety left Stephen with a long red to the corner, Maguire duly countered with an effort of 32. With just the final three colours left on the table Maguire forced a bad safety from Michael when he left the blue in a cuttable position to the top corner pocket. Maguire needed no second invitation and sank blue, pink and black to pich the frame and lead 8-5.
Holt rallied with a break of 56 that accounted for frame 14 and reduced his deficit to 8-6. Maguire was wobbling - he was in big danger of blowing a sizeable lead. And those warning signs must have had bells on when he could only sit and watch a 35 point lead whittled away in frame 17 as Holt closed to 35-17 with just two reds left on the table. With a chance of cutting his deficit to just one frame Holt though jawed the penultimate red and then had to sit and watch Maguire dispatch that and the final one together with colours as the frame reached the colours. With a relatively simple yellow on the side cushion Maguire tried to roll it in - to his horror it stayed out and was easy meat for Michael who dropped it in - and followed up by fluking the green into the centre pocket. Holt though din't fancy the brown - and so elected to play safe - it looked a good ploy as he forced a safety error from Stephen. All Holt needed to do was to hold himself together- he negotiated the brown, but failed on the blue - only to get another bite of the cherry when Stephen missed a straight blue to the corner. For Michael this was it - he sunk the blue and then knocked in the pink from tight under the side cushion to leave himself the black- and the chance was there as Maguire's miss to the corner saw the black come to rest just off the top cushion with the cue ball in mid table. It wasn't a gimme but pottable - Michael cued it but the black refused to drop and agonisingly stayed in the jaws - that was that Maguire clearly relieved stepped in potted the black and squeezed into the last sixteen.
Elsewhere defending champion Shaun Murphy looked comfortable in seeing off Gerard Greene 9-5 while Mark King doubled the misery for Nottingham's snooker professionals as he thrashed Anthony Hamilton 9-2. Also through is Mark Williams when Graeme Dott withdrew feeling unwell before the final session trailing 2-6,allowing Williams to progress 9-2
Overnight scores are - Stuart Bingham 6-2 Joe Perry, Liang Wenbo 6-2 Ryan Day, Neil Robertson 5-3 Tom Ford and Jamie Cope 4-4 Mark Selby. Those matches to a finish tomorrow afternoon.
Suzy Jardine
FORMER UK Open Champion Stephen Maguire overcame a mid session wobble to advance to the second round of the UK Open with a 9-6 victory over Michael Holt
Maguire had endured a horrible few days with the death of his grandfather Paddy, and arrived in Telford for the UK Championships for a first round encounter against the world number 24 from Nottingham
The 2004 champion was quickest out of the traps in the early stages of the best of seventeen frame clash against the Nottingham man as he quickly established a 4-1 lead. But Maguire's lapse in concentration, and poor shot selections were to cost him the lead he had worked so painstaikenly to build when in the eighth frame left in trouble by Holt's safety he tried to pot his way out of trouble and left a red sitting over a corner pocket. Grabbing his chance Holt dropped in the red and picked off the balls one by one as they came to the final red. The red was nestling just off the side cushion and Holt normally so reliable with the rest missed it. Maguire though failed to take the chance when it presented itself - and how he was to regret it when he missed a straightforward green allowing Holt to step and knock in green to black to level at 4-4 at the interval.
The interval though had come at the worst possible time for Holt as it interrupted the momentum that he had worked so hard to wrest from his opponant- Maguire probably was delighted to get out of the arena and back to his hotel room. Resuming he took the first two frames of the night to lead 6-4. Holt knew he had to knuckle down if he wasn't to suffer a heavy defeat. Holt was getting chances but he wasn't able to convert on them. And when he jawed a red to the top corner Maguire pounced with a break of 31- and then forced Maguire into taking an ambitious red to the top corner which rebounded towards the centre pocket - and that was all the help Maguire needed as he rolled in abreak of 32 to extend his lead to 7-4.
Showing the grit of his favourite football team Nottingham Forest Holt though refused to give in and started to show the potting skills of which we all know Michael is capable of. A early flurry of 19 at last brought to an end of 26 minutes without a point- and when Maguire left Michael with a fine cut to the centre Holt grabbed his chance and stroked in a break of 75 to close to 7-5. And it should have been 7-6 to Holt, but after establishing an early lead of 44 his safety left Stephen with a long red to the corner, Maguire duly countered with an effort of 32. With just the final three colours left on the table Maguire forced a bad safety from Michael when he left the blue in a cuttable position to the top corner pocket. Maguire needed no second invitation and sank blue, pink and black to pich the frame and lead 8-5.
Holt rallied with a break of 56 that accounted for frame 14 and reduced his deficit to 8-6. Maguire was wobbling - he was in big danger of blowing a sizeable lead. And those warning signs must have had bells on when he could only sit and watch a 35 point lead whittled away in frame 17 as Holt closed to 35-17 with just two reds left on the table. With a chance of cutting his deficit to just one frame Holt though jawed the penultimate red and then had to sit and watch Maguire dispatch that and the final one together with colours as the frame reached the colours. With a relatively simple yellow on the side cushion Maguire tried to roll it in - to his horror it stayed out and was easy meat for Michael who dropped it in - and followed up by fluking the green into the centre pocket. Holt though din't fancy the brown - and so elected to play safe - it looked a good ploy as he forced a safety error from Stephen. All Holt needed to do was to hold himself together- he negotiated the brown, but failed on the blue - only to get another bite of the cherry when Stephen missed a straight blue to the corner. For Michael this was it - he sunk the blue and then knocked in the pink from tight under the side cushion to leave himself the black- and the chance was there as Maguire's miss to the corner saw the black come to rest just off the top cushion with the cue ball in mid table. It wasn't a gimme but pottable - Michael cued it but the black refused to drop and agonisingly stayed in the jaws - that was that Maguire clearly relieved stepped in potted the black and squeezed into the last sixteen.
Elsewhere defending champion Shaun Murphy looked comfortable in seeing off Gerard Greene 9-5 while Mark King doubled the misery for Nottingham's snooker professionals as he thrashed Anthony Hamilton 9-2. Also through is Mark Williams when Graeme Dott withdrew feeling unwell before the final session trailing 2-6,allowing Williams to progress 9-2
Overnight scores are - Stuart Bingham 6-2 Joe Perry, Liang Wenbo 6-2 Ryan Day, Neil Robertson 5-3 Tom Ford and Jamie Cope 4-4 Mark Selby. Those matches to a finish tomorrow afternoon.
Suzy Jardine