Cope stuns Maguire

Jamie Cope caused the first major upset of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix today when he dumped out world number two Stephen Maguire in Glasgow.

The Stoke player cruised to a 5-1 first-round win at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre to make sure of his place in tomorrow’s last-16 draw.

A Grand Prix runner-up in 2007, Cope had a top break of 79 but other than that failed to make another run over 50.

The world number 20 was, however, understandably delighted with his victory over Maguire, one of the home favourites.

“I played quite solidly. I still made a couple of mistakes, but Stephen made more,” said Cope.

“The 5-1 scoreline was a surprise. If he had played like he can it would have been a lot closer. Hopefully I can improve as the tournament progresses.

“I got to the final here a couple of years ago, so it would be great if I could do the same and even go one step better. I’ve love to have another crack at a final.”

Cope won the opening frame with his composed break of 79 but neither player produced their best form in the next three scrappy frames.

It was Cope who claimed them all though for a healthy 4-0 interval lead.

Maguire rallied briefly with a break of 66 – his highest of the match – but Cope won the seventh to seal the victory.

“I did feel a little bit of extra pressure before the match, I was nervous, but I can’t have any excuses,” admitted Maguire.

“I never got going from start to finish. If you play six frames and you don’t get going, then there’s only one result.

“Apart from the first frame I had chances in every frame, but I gifted him two frames. I couldn’t have made it any easier for him.

“I’ve not played as bad as that for a couple of years. I felt the match was over after the second frame, I just wanted to get out of the arena.

“There’s been a lot of hype about this tournament, I really wanted to do well here in Glasgow.

“For some reason, when I got out there, I was really flat. It’s the worst feeling in the world.

“But it’s not the end of the world, I’ve only lost a snooker match at the end of the day.”

China’s Ding Junhui, a three-time ranking event winner, is also through to the last 16.

Junhui, who is based in Sheffield, impressed with a 5-0 whitewash of Jamie Burnett, another Glaswegian looking to make his mark in front of the home supporters.

Breaks of 75, 62, 64 and 85 did the trick for the world number 11, while Burnett’s top break was only 15.