Stephen Maguire trashes Ricky Walden in Round 2 of 2012 China Open to set up Ronnie O’Sullivan clash
After a close encounter at the Beijing University Students Gymnasium arena, Scotland’s Stephen Maguire was able to push his friend, England’s Ricky Walden down by the score line of 5-4 in the second round of the 2012 China Open snooker tournament. The Scot will next meet the former three-time World Snooker Champion from England, the Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The Scotsman faced a tough resistance from the Englishman as he proceeded into the second session of the match. Walden fired some decent small breaks along with the highest break of 86 to turn the game into a nail biting clash. Maguire, on the other hand, fired some tremendous clearances of 79, 132 and 68 to nudge the Englishman one frame down at the end.
The pair went neck-and-neck from the beginning and dragged the contest into a situation where the spectators were uncertain of the result. However, Maguire played sensibly in the final frame and clinched it to claim the victory. He was quite excited after beating his friend and hoped for a tussling encounter against Ronnie O’Sullivan who will be facing him in the quarter-final clash.
Speaking to World Snooker in the post game interview, Maguire said, “It was a tough old struggle. I don't know if it's because me and Ricky are good friends, we grew up together. After the first four frames, it was just whoever stood up the longest, it was a pretty poor match, but I'm just glad to get through it.”
The Scottish potter added, “If I play like that against Ronnie, I'm going to get gobbed 5-0, without a doubt. So I've only got 24 hours to get my game back, but tomorrow is a different day, so hopefully I can play well, and get a result.”
The clash will be thrilling between Maguire and O’Sullivan because Stephen is looking to avenge his defeat which he received in the final of the 2012 German Masters snooker tournament. He has played O’Sullivan before but in all those games, he was not able to win any of them. The 31-year-old insists that he will give his best in the game.
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