STEPHEN Maguire is through to the quarter-finals of the World Championship after thrashing England’s Rory McLeod 13-3.
The Scot raced into a 6-2 lead before beaks of 114, 90 and 61 ensured he could be competing in the last eight for the first time since 2012. McLeod, who had shocked pre-tournament favourite Judd Trump in the first round, struggled to reach the same heights in the follow-up performance.
Five-time ranking title winner Maguire has dropped to 24th in the world and came through three matches in qualifying.
He thumped fellow countryman Anthony McGill 10-2 in the first round, his first win at the Crucible Theatre since 2012, when he reached the semi-finals. Another comfortable victory on Sunday means he has an extra day off and faces Hawkins or Dott in the next round.
Maguire said: “It is nice knowing I don’t have to get ready and worry about it. I am totally ready for the match. I don’t fear anyone and if I play my game, I fancy winning.
“I have never been in the final so I cannot say I fancy winning it, I don’t know what it takes.”
McLeod never got going – falling 5-0 behind – and blamed his shock win over Trump for his poor performance.
“I was distracted after my first-round win and all the commotion around it.
“All the hype from it distracted me – I should have just locked myself away and not got involved.”
Elsewhere, earlier in the day Marco Fu hit back from 4-1 down to head into the evening session against Neil Robertson locked at 4-4 at the Betfred World Championship.
The world No 8 staged a comeback in their second-round match in Sheffield ahead of their return to the table. Robertson had dominated early and won the first frame convincingly before stroking in breaks of 105, 90 and 62 to open up a 4-1 advantage Fu levelled, but breaks of 105, 62 and 90 moved Robertson into a commanding 4-1 lead.
But Fu hit 118 to start his recovery and pull it back to 4-2, and breaks of 98 and 59 saw him level ahead of their restart last night.
Another evening session match involved birthday boy Barry Hawkins, who had fought back from two frames down to take a 5-3 lead against Scotland’s Graeme Dott earlier in the day. At the time of going to press, Dott trailed Hawkins 9-5.
The 2013 finalist, celebrating his 38th birthday, rallied against 2006 champion Dott after losing the opening two frames. A break of 91 in the final frame of the morning session completed the comeback ahead of the evening session.
England’s defending champion Mark Selby is 10-6 up against China’s Xiao Guodong after their afternoon session. The world No 1 had led 6-2 and maintained his four-frame advantage after the next eight frames.
That left Selby requiring just three frames for the victory. They resume play this afternoon.
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