There was an unusual incident at the International Championship this week when Stephen Maguire smacked a ball in anger while playing Xu Si. Maguire was looking to snooker Si with the score 63-43 in his opponent’s favour in the ninth frame of the match. But after hitting the blue against the side cushion while looking to bring the cue ball back down the table, the white accidentally cannoned into the blue. That sent the cue ball into the middle pocket and before it could even drop, Maguire’s anger washed over him.
Though he still led the best-of-11 match 5-4, conceding the frame led the angered Scot to forcefully slap the black ball up the table with his right hand. As it bounced between the baulk cushion and the top cushion, he then walked over to sit in his seat while still clearly frustrated.
But Maguire overcame his frustration to win the 10th frame and take the match. The 44-year-old has since beaten 2024 world champion Kyren Wilson and Chinese potter Jiang Jun. He faces Zak Surety for a place in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Wu Yize produced a phenomenal upset to defeat Judd Trump. The 22-year-old came from 4-0 down at the mid-session interval to beat the world No.1 6-4. Trump only scored 18 points after the interval as Wu won six frames in a row.
Wu told the World Snooker Tour after: “I felt very proud of myself. After going 4-0 down I fought shot by shot. The crowd really cheered me up. With all the fans cheering at the end it felt like a moment of true happiness.
“I attacked really well today. I barely made any mistakes and once I was given opportunities I just took them. He certainly put me under a lot of pressure.” Wu has since soared into the semi-finals by thrashing Barry Hawkins 6-0.
And he will face his countryman, and defending world champion, Zhao Xintong after the Chinese star recovered from 4-2 against Mark Selby to win 6-5. Home favourite Xintong scored his first ever win against Selby having lost all of the previous five meetings.
Should Maguire get the better of Surety, then either Shaun Murphy or John Higgins await him in the other semi-final. The event in Nanjing pays the winner £175,000 while the runner-up still bags £75,000. Those who lose in the semi-finals go home with £33,000.
Selby and Trump were both two-time champions already at this event while Murphy was a losing finalist in 2019. A Chinese player has won the tournament in each of the last two years, Zhang Anda in 2023 and Ding Junhui last year. The newest champion will be determined this Sunday.