Stephen Maguire

Infobox Snooker player
Name = Stephen Maguire


Caption =
Born = birth date and age|1981|3|13
Birthplace =
Nationality = flagicon|Scotland Scottish
Nickname = Livewire On-Fire Maguire Maggi
Professional = 1998–
High ranking = #2 (2008/09)
Current rank = #2
Prize money = GB£670,000 [World Snooker profile for [http://www.worldsnooker.com/player_list-7950.htm Stephen Maguire] ]
High break = 147 twice (2000 Regal Scottish, 2008 China Open)
Ranking wins = 4
Other wins = 0

Stephen Maguire (born March 13, 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Glasgow. When he was young, he was so keen to play the game that his grandparents knocked a wall out of their flat to ensure that a table would fit.

Career

Maguire almost qualified for the 2000 World Championships, leading eventual semi-finalist Joe Swail 9-6 in the final qualifying round before losing 10-9 [http://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/season01-02/profiles/jswail/] , but first served notice of his true potential by knocking out Stephen Lee in the first round of the UK Championship in 2002.

Maguire was the surprise winner of the 2004 European Open. Ranked 41 in the world at the time, he beat well established top-16 player Jimmy White 9-3 in the final. It was in that same season that he qualified for the World Championship for the first time, losing 6-10 in the first round to Ronnie O'Sullivan. After losing 6-9 to John Higgins in the final of the British Open, Maguire then went on to win the UK Championship on 28 November, 2004 with an emphatic 10-1 victory over David Gray in the final, after having knocked out world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan earlier in the tournament. He has played O'Sullivan five times so far in his career, also losing to him in a World Snooker Championship first-round match for a second consecutive year in 2005, 9-10, having led 9-7. The second half of his 2004/2005 season was less successful, but he still moved up to #3 in the world rankings. In the 2005/2006 season, he only reached one quarter-final, showing evidence of a loss in form, especially when losing 13-4 to qualifier Marco Fu in the second round of the World Championships.

Maguire has a rivalry with Shaun Murphy. In a 2004 Grand Prix match, Murphy was involved in having one of Maguire's frames forfeited. As the match was about to begin, Maguire realised he had forgotten to bring his chalk with him. He asked referee Johan Oomen for permission to leave the arena. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/3714886.stm Williams crashes out] ", BBC Sport, 4 October, 2004. Retrieved on 24 February, 2007.] While he was away, Murphy spoke to the referee; the tournament director Mike Ganley was summoned and he docked Maguire a frame for not being ready to start at the scheduled time." [http://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=snooker/07/02/17/SNOOKER_Welsh_Higginson.html Higginson Revelling in Spotlight] ", Sporting Life, 17 February, 2007. Retrieved on 24 February, 2007.] Maguire later won the match 5-2. Later that year, whilst playing in the final of the UK Championships, David Gray forgot his chalk. However, Maguire let him get it without a frame being docked. After beating Murphy in the 2007 Welsh Open, Maguire said, 'That put the icing on the cake, but we've always had a rivalry. I dislike him and I think he dislikes me. I try hard to beat everyone, but it would have hurt more if I'd lost to him'. After the previously mentioned 2006 World Championship match with Marco Fu, Maguire said, 'I don't want to be a fat world champion', a dig at Murphy, which may have simply reflected Maguire's own disappointment at his season, which saw him slide from 3 to 9 in the rankings. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/4936668.stm Quotes from The Crucible] ", BBC Sport, 26 April, 2006. Retrieved on 24 February, 2007.]

In 2007, he recorded his best run at the World Championship reaching the semi-final, where he lost 15-17 to eventual champion John Higgins having led 14-10. In the 2008 World Championships, he was edged out by Joe Perry in the quarter-finals 13-12.

Stephen again beat Shaun Murphy in the 2007 UK Championship semi-final 9-5 only to lose 10-2 to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final. In the 2008 China Open, he compiled a 147 in narrowly beating his friend Welshman Ryan Day 6-5 in the semi-finals, before edging out Shaun Murphy once again in the final by 10 frames to 9.

Despite losing at the quarter-final stage of the 2008 World Championship in another final frame decider (12-13) to Joe Perry, he became the world number 2, his highest ever ranking, for the 2008/09 season. Having severed most of his ties the previous summer, Maguire formally left management company 110sport in the summer of 2008.

Personal life

Stephen and his long-term girlfriend have one son, Finn. ["World Snooker profile for [http://www.worldsnooker.com/players_head_to_head-7950.htm Stephen Maguire] "]

Tournament wins

Ranking tournaments

* European Open, 2004
* UK Championship, 2004
* Northern Ireland Trophy, 2007
* China Open, 2008

References