Stephen Maguire hails Rod Lawler for his good form in Round 1 of 2012 Wuxi Classic
Despite springing back into the game during the second session proceedings of his first match of 2012 Wuxi Classic snooker tournament, Scotland’s Stephen Maguire was unable to nudge his opponent, England’s Rod Lawler, down. The Englishman, Lawler, on the
other hand, displayed scintillating snooker skills in the game and cruised to a 5-4 victory over Maguire.
Lawler started his 2012 Wuxi Classic campaign with his opening match in the tournament’s qualifying session. He performed brilliantly in the qualifiers to make his way into the Wild Card round where he faced the Chinese potter Li Hang. The Englishman defeated
the Chinese rookie quite easily with 5-2 score line and booked his spot in the televised stages of the contest.
His first encounter against Maguire seemed a tough game for him because Stephen is one of the toughest opponents to have in any tournament. The Scotsman proved his class in the second session when he was trailing 4-2 behind Lawler and pulled level at 4-4
clinching two consecutive frames.
However, the final frame did not finish in Maguire’s favour as Lawler took care of the proceedings from the moment when the Scot missed a red on 39. Lawler’s steady game impressed Maguire and after the match he appreciated the way the English potter finished
the proceedings.
While speaking to World Snooker, Maguire said, “All credit to Rod, I totally was not expecting a clearance there at the end. I definitely made a mistake when I took the game for granted at 4-4 when I was on 39 and I went for a red that you should never ever
go for. I just thought if I pot the red then the match was over, but it definitely wasn't the right shot.”
He added, “I had three safe reds, I counted it up and I knew he needed the reds and as I said, I totally wasn't expecting him to clear all the balls there in the end. It's my fault, I shouldn't have gone for that tricky red, but I'll never learn.”
Lawler has breezed into the second round where he will meet the former World Snooker Champion from Scotland, Graeme Dott. This will be another tough match for the Englishman and he has to pull up his socks. He has played tremendously so far and his game
against Dott will be decisive.
Tags: