Players to watch in 2012 Shanghai Masters snooker event – Part 6
However, this tremendous run in the Chinese event gave a terrific boost to Maguire’s confidence and he was all set to face challenges of 2012 World Snooker Championship because the event was expected to be the toughest of the season. The 2012 World Snooker
Championship produced some tremendous snooker competition at the Crucible Theatre arena in Sheffield.
Maguire started his World Championship campaign with his first round match against Belgium’s Luca Brecel, a youngster who showed great determination in the qualifying session to book his place in the initial round. Maguire played impressively against him
and ousted him by the score line of 10-5 to book his place in the second round.
He was up against England’s Joe Perry in the second round clash. The Scotsman was familiar with Perry’s playing style so he performed sensibly against him to beat him by the score line of 13-7. He successfully made his way into the quarter-final stage where
he faced the toughest challenge, the former seven-time World Snooker Champion, compatriot Stephen Hendry. The clash was assumed to be tussling but Maguire made it look an easy win for him and toppled down Hendry by 13-2. After this defeat, Hendry announced
his retirement from World Snooker.
Maguire’s next opponent in the semi-final stage was none other than the Captain, Ali Carter. The penultimate clash of the mega event was indeed a thrilling game to watch where both potters went neck-and-neck. Despite the fact that Maguire lost the game 17-12,
his run in the event did boost his confidence and he entered the new snooker season with his head high.
Maguire began his new season campaign with a slow start in the Asian Players Tour Championship (APTC) as he crashed out of the event in the first round. He was confident of a good run in the 2012 Wuxi Classic snooker tournament but was not able to fulfil
his ambition because Rod Lawler of England proved to be a hurdle in his way. Lawler ousted him after facing a strong resistance by the score line of 5-4.
The 2012 Six-Red World Championship was yet another early exit for the Scotsman as he could win only one match in his round-robin stage run and crashed out of the event. However, the Scot bounced back brilliantly when he started his campaign of UKPTC Event
1. He performed up to the mark in the initial stages of the event grabbing a couple of whitewash wins.
He was outstanding at the baize and made his way successfully into the final encounter of the event after beating Eden Sharav, Paul Davison, Gary Wilson, Andrew Pagett, Barry Hawkins and Andrew Higginson. He set up Jack Lisowski competition in the final
clash and trounced him by the score line of 4-3 after hitting the decisive frame win.
The Scottish potter did not take part in the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open and is now aiming to give his best in the 2012 Shanghai Masters snooker event. Maguire has shown convincing performance in the recent snooker season so far and is capable of winning
the Shanghai title. He is one of the top contenders of the event especially in the absence of John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan. He will be facing the former World Snooker Championship winner and the winner of the 2012 China Open, England’s Peter Ebdon in
the first round. The match up will be interesting to watch because the pair is on song in the new season.
Continued in Part 7
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