Maguire shoots down Rocket
Ronnie O'Sullivan just failed to complete the comeback
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Sunday, 13, Jan 2008 07:30
Ronnie O'Sullivan's bid to make snooker history fell at the first hurdle as he lost 6-5 against world number two Stephen Maguire at Wembley.
The Rocket had been seeking to become the first player to make the Masters final five times in succession but faced a big challenge against world number two Maguire.
A partisan crowd was aghast when a strong start from the Scotsman including breaks 0f 68, 103 and 84 combined to give him a 4-1 lead.
But then O'Sullivan finally got started with a magnificent 112 to keep himself in the match.
He looked much cooler thank Maguire as the frames progressed, despite giving up in the eighth frame to leave himself 5-3 down.
Breaks of 66 and 64 helped set up a decider and, after an initial error, was handed a chance to complete the fightback when Maguire cannoned the blue on 49. O'Sullivan missed an easy blue to hand the match to Maguire.
In the other first-round Masters fixture today Shaun Murphy beat fellow Englishman Ali Carter 6-3.
Murphy never looked troubled although neither player contributed centuries and it was Carter's fifth-frame 77 which proved to be the highest of the match.