Saturday 31 March 2012

Maguire Makes China Open Final


Stephen Maguire reached the final of the China Open with a comfortable 6-2 victory over England's Stephen Lee.

The Scot moved into a 2-0 lead before Lee hit back to level the scores at the interval.

But 2008 winner Maguire responded to take the next four frames, clinching his place in Sunday's final with a break of 91 in the last frame.

He will face either home favourite Ding Junhui or Peter Ebdon, who meet at 1430 BST on Saturday.

Maguire enjoyed a much more straightforward passage than in the quarter-finals, where he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-4 on a re-spotted black.

It is the second time he has reached the final of the Beijing tournament and his progress rarely looked in doubt.

He began confidently, a break of 76 enough to take the first frame before edging a scrappy second.

Lee looked to have the momentum as he levelled the match at 2-2 but Maguire responded with breaks of 53, 51 and 66 to win the next two.

A 48 from Lee in frame seven offered hope of a reply but he faltered and Maguire cleared to lead 5-2, before his highest break of the match earned his place in the final.

Previous China Open winners
2011 - Judd Trump
2010 - Mark Williams
2009 - Peter Ebdon
2008 - Stephen Maguire
2007 - Graeme Dott
2006 - Mark Williams
2005 - Ding Junhui