Snooker ace Stephen Maguire has expressed his frustration at ‘annoying’ Ronnie O’Sullivan after his 13-year wait to defeat The Rocket continued. Despite not having beaten O’Sullivan since 2012, the 44-year-old was given a new opportunity during last month’s Xi’an Grand Prix in China.
The two British players clashed in the tournament’s third round, with O’Sullivan sailing to a 5-0 victory, boasting breaks of 134, 70, 63 and 85. Maguire could only admire O’Sullivan’s performance, telling the Metro: “Ronnie was unbelievable against me.
“Ronnie was just incredible. He made me realise how far away I am. So I’ve been practicing, just trying to get something.”
The Scot, who held the No. 2 spot in the world behind O’Sullivan from 2008 to 2012, lamented: “He does it to me every time. I don’t know what I’ve done to p*** him off years and years ago because he is always top notch when I go on the table with him, he’s always on it. He’s good to watch.”
However, O’Sullivan didn’t clinch the Xi’an Grand Prix title. He was defeated 5-2 in the quarter-finals by Gary Wilson, who said: “You’ve got to show him [O’Sullivan] you are ready to play.
“Against Ronnie, you can tell he’s trying to look at signs, trying to tell if you feel good or you feel bad, whether you are taking your chances or you aren’t, if you are bottling it.
“All of that goes through your head. He feeds off that – you need to try and block it out of your head.”
Wilson couldn’t make it past the semi-finals, as Shaun Murphy fired in three centuries to secure his spot in the final. He was, however, defeated 10-3 by Mark Williams, who at 50 years old, became the oldest player to win a ranking event.
Maguire has slipped to a lowly 25th in the world rankings and is eager to claw his way back into the top 16. After defeating Luca Brecel 4-1 on Tuesday, he is set to face China’s Si Jiahui in the round of 32 at the Northern Ireland Open on Wednesday.
“It’s tough, man. I don’t know,” confessed Maguire after his loss to O’Sullivan. “If I knew what it was I’d fix it. It’s tough out there. Everybody’s good. It’s a tough game.
“There’s a lot of big tournaments coming up so every match is massive. Especially where I’m ranked, I’m nowhere right now, so I’m trying to get back up there.”
Despite winning the Championship League in July, he was rather dismissive of his achievement. “Somebody had to win the league and that’s forgotten about,” Maguire stated.
“But it’s given me a good wee platform to get into the Grand Prix and that series [Players Championship and Tour Championship].”