MURPY AND MAGUIRE MEET AGAIN
12/12/2007 22:33:00

Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire will go head to head in the semi-finals for the second consecutive ranking event after each enjoyed wins at the Maplin UK Championship today.

Maguire won the previous clash 6-5 at the Northern Ireland Trophy and Murphy will hope to gain revenge on Friday.

Murphy edged out China's Ding Junhui 9-7 at Telford to extend his consistent run of form. The provisional world No 1 has now reached the semis of four of the last five tournaments - though he has yet to convert any of those into a final appearance.

They resumed at 4-4 after a tight first session then shared the first six frames tonight, Murphy making runs of 68 and 54 while Ding, the 2005 UK Champion, knocked in 69 and 65.

At 7-7, there had never been more than one frame between them in the match. Murphy took a scrappy 15th with runs of 33 and 27, then took his chance for victory in the next. Ding was unlucky to knock the pink in when he split the pack off the blue, and Murphy rolled in the higest break of the match, a 74.

"It was a tough match, everything just seemed to go awkward," said Rotherham's Murphy. "There were a lot of frames where balls went on to cushions - if you were down at the club you might just re-rack them and start again, but obviously in a match you've got to battle it out. Ding wasn't on his A game and the match didn't suit his style."

Murphy and Maguire have met three times this year, and inevitably both are asked by media about the friction between them, which dates back to an incident at the 2004 Grand Prix when Maguire was docked a frame after leaving the arena at the start of the match to recover his chalk.

"It's been well documented that he's not going to forgive me and I don't know what I've got to do," added Murphy. "He's got a grudge he wants to hold but that's fine by me, it adds a bit of spice to the match."

Maguire enjoyed a more comfortable route into the last four, beating Mark Williams 9-5.

Leading 5-3 after the first session, the Scot pulled away by winning the first two frames this evening with breaks of 46 and 45.

Welshman Williams pulled one back with a 52 but crucially missed a short range penultimate red to a centre pocket at 42-53 in the next and Maguire capitalised for 8-4.

Willams edged a scrappy 13th frame before Maguire completed victory with a 130, easily the highest break of the match.

"I've never see Mark play like that," said Northern Ireland Trophy champion Maguire, who is amining to become the first player to win back-to-back ranking events since Ronnie O'Sullivan won the World Championship and Grand Prix in 2004. "I don't want to sound miserable after a win, but I was pretty rubbish too. I can't possibly win the tournament playing like that.

"I feel a bit drained and I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow. Maybe it will take someone playing well to get the best out of me. I know I can score heavily and that form's still there."

Williams, who will at least improve on his current provisional ranking of 40th, said: "I missed so many easy balls and played poorly all the way through. I suppose I've got to be glad to have won a couple of matches and hopefully this will be a stepping stone."