Maguire sees off Williams

Scotland’s Stephen Maguire reached the semi-finals of the Maplin UK Championship with a convincing 9-5 win over Mark Williams in Telford.

The Glaswegian led 5-3 after the first session and it was not long before the world number 10 made sure of his place in the next phase – although he was not happy with his performance.

“I don’t want to be miserable, but it wasn’t a good match,” said Maguire. “I was rubbish.

“I felt good today but once things started to go scrappy I started to lose the momentum.

“I got away with it today, but I can’t possibly win this tournament if I keep playing like that.

“I can definitely play better that than. Maybe it’s going to take someone to play well against me and I’ll maybe raise my game.

“I feel as though my game is there, but it’s about doing it. Luckily I’m still getting results.”

Upbeat despite defeat, Williams reflected: “I could have been 5-3 up myself, but I missed too many easy balls really.

“I played quite poor all the way through the match, so I’ve got no complaints.

“He probably played a little better than me, but I wouldn’t say too much.

“I’ve got no complaints, but the bounces all match were scandalous.”

Williams has slipped to 40th in the provisional rankings but, having reached the quarter-finals, was happy to have claimed some ranking points.

“It’s strange sitting here saying I’ve won a couple of matches, but any wins will do at the moment for me,” added Williams.

“I felt I was playing all right, I could have gone further. It can only get better, hopefully I can carry on from here. Hopefully this can be a stepping stone.”

Last month’s Northern Ireland Trophy champion Maguire wasted little time in powering into a 3-0 lead.

Breaks of 45, 48 and 72 did the bulk of the damage as the Milton-based cueman edged closer to a place in this year’s showcase semis.

But back came two-time UK winner Williams with breaks of 41 and 67 to reduce his arrears.

Maguire should have moved 4-2 ahead, but broke down on a break of 46 and Williams got in to make a crucial clearance of 31 to level matters.

Williams, who also had a break of 56 in opening frame, could not make it four frames in a row as his opponent, winner of the UK crown in 2004, compiled a break of 43 to lead 4-3.

And it got even better for Maguire as he won the last frame of the afternoon session on the final pink ball for a two-frame cushion.

The resumption saw Maguire pull 7-3 clear thanks to breaks of 46 and 45, before two-time world champion Williams stopped the rot with a composed run of 52.

Maguire restored his four-frame cushion with a break of 53 and, although Williams battled bravely to pull another back, it was his opponent who went through thanks a special 130 break.

Shaun Murphy came back from 5-4 down to follow Maguire through with a 9-7 success over Ding Junhui.

“It was a tough match, I think we were both trying to make it as tough as we could for each other.

“The frames went really awkward. If the balls go like that it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to struggle. It was just one of those matches.

“It’s the type of game where you have to grit your teeth and get through it. You have to hope you get more chances than the other guy.”

Murphy, the new provisional world number one, won a scrappy opening frame on points 61-26 before three-time ranking event winner Ding pulled 2-1 ahead without any breaks of note.

Back came Rotherham’s Murphy to level at 2-2 with a composed break of 52, before Ding had a run of 62 to go ahead again.

Ding looked to have gone 4-2 ahead, but faltered on a break of 59 and Murphy pocketed a cool break of 49 to win the sixth frame by one point.

Murphy had a break of 41 in the next frame, but it was Ding who pinched it 66-62 thanks largely to a 38 clearance.

However, Murphy made sure it was all square after the first eight frames with a composed 31 clearance to the final black ball to leave things all square.

Ding edged the opening frame after the resumption with a break of 41, but Murphy levelled by winning the 10th frame 61-50.

The adopted Yorkshireman went 6-5 ahead with a break of 68, before Ding responded to square matters once again with runs of 43 and 69.

Murphy took the next frame with a 54 break, only to see Ding pocket a 65 break to make it 7-7.

However, it was Murphy who booked his place in the next round by winning the 15th frame on points 60-6, before a composed 74 break made sure of victory.