Snooker: Maguire reels off four frames to down Dott

Published on Sunday 11 January 2009 22:57

STEPHEN Maguire fought back from 5-2 down to knock out fellow Scot Graeme Dott 6-5 in the first round of the Masters at Wembley.

Dott looked to be on course to cause a major shock when he moved to within one frame of victory, but Maguire dug deep and a polished break of 72 in the deciding frame carried him through to the last eight.

Former world champion Dott has suffered a drastic dip in form over the last two years and revealed he has been suffering with depression, while a broken arm has been another disruption to his 2008-09 season. But the 31-year-old hinted at a return to form at the UK Championship last month, where he ousted fellow former Crucible winner Ken Doherty in the first round.

After the first two frames were shared yesterday, Maguire fired in a 114 break, the first century of the match, to lead 2-1. But Dott then reeled off four frames in a row, highlighted by a 106 break in the fifth frame, to put himself on the brink of a place in the quarter-finals.

Maguire had appeared out of sorts but pulled back the next two frames, and then made it 5-5 after recovering from two careless early fouls in the tenth frame.

The decider was all Maguire, and a break of 68 left Dott needing at least one snooker. Instead of putting Maguire in trouble, Dott let him back in, and another red from his opponent prompted a handshake between the pair.

Maguire's next opponent will be either six-time former Masters champion Stephen Hendry or Australian Neil Robertson.

After avoiding a first-round exit, Maguire could return to Scotland for a break before his next match. "I can relax now," he explained. "I think I don't play again until Thursday. I'm in two minds about whether to head up the road or stay down. I'm just relieved really."

Maguire was impressed by Dott's performance and believes his countryman is slowly rediscovering his top form.

"He never missed a long ball until he was 5-2 up. Then he missed a couple," said Maguire. "He has not won a lot of matches but you can tell he's starting to get more confidence about him. The way he's zipping around the table it's like the old Graeme."

Crowd favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan survived a real scare on day one when he beat Joe Perry 6-5. Perry led 5-4 and had match ball in the tenth frame but left the pink in the jaws of a corner pocket and handed O'Sullivan a reprieve.