England’s Ronnie O’Sullivan congratulates Stephen Maguire on success in quarters: 2012 China Open
Third quarter-final clash of the 2012 China Open snooker tournament became very close and uncertain when the challengers, former three-time World Snooker Champions Ronnie O’Sullivan and the former UK Championship winner Stephen Maguire got ready to play
the final frame of the match after pulling level at 4-4 at the Beijing University Students Gymnasium arena in Beijing.
The Scotsman was in superb from the start of the tournament and had produced some outstanding snooker skills during his initial matches. He proved his class against O’Sullivan too as he took off first with two classy breaks of 76 and 57 to hit early lead
of 2-0. O’Sullivan, on the other hand, was under no pressure because he always has the game under his control.
The Rocket bounced back brilliantly later in the first session to pull level at 2-2 after winning two frames firing two superb clearances of 88 and 60. At the start of Session 2, a new tussle of getting the lead began between both potters which ended at
4-4. As a result, the match entered the decisive frame where Maguire hits a fluke on the final black to win the game. O’Sullivan appreciated his game play and congratulated him on his success.
Speaking to World Snooker after the game, O’Sullivan said, “All credit to Stephen really, he played a good match, a close match. He's been a solid player all year, he's a top player and you've got to give credit to Stephen because he hung in well there and
he made a clearance at the end to get us to the re-spot as well.”
The Essex Exocet added. “There always has to be a winner and there always has to be a loser and I think a lot of credit has to go to Stephen for winning that match. It looks like it's just come down to one ball but there were nine frames played there, a
lot of good snooker played and maybe he deserved it today.”
The Wordsley potter was suffering from the after effects of glandular fever but still he made it to the tournament for the sake of his fans and the sport. He will be moving to Sheffield to take part in the upcoming 2012 World Snooker Championship.
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