World Championship: Stephen Maguire on his wild celebration - 'I did well to get out of there before I broke something'
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Updated 28/04/2024 at 17:57 GMT
Stephen Maguire returned on Sunday morning to wrap up a 13-9 victory over Shaun Murphy in their second-round clash at the World Snooker Championship. It was an impressive performance but much of the post-match talk was focused on his wild celebration at the end of the second session. Maguire admitted he was fired up by a fist pump from Murphy earlier in the match.
'What a pot!' - Maguire pots green with double, clears table and celebrates wildly
Stephen Maguire reflected on his wild celebration against Shaun Murphy, admitting he was lucky to get out of the arena without breaking something.
Maguire and Murphy are fierce rivals dating back to their days at junior level, while an incident at the 2004 Grand Prix when the former was docked a frame after forgetting his chalk only ramped up the animosity.
This was the first meeting between the pair since they clashed at the 2022 World Championship, and tensions were high at the Crucible.
Murphy celebrated winning a couple of frames with a clench of the fist, which Maguire responded to in manic style.
After taking the 16th to open up a four-frame lead at the end of the second session, Maguire punched the table in celebration before swinging a fist in the air as he left the arena.
Maguire returned on Sunday morning to wrap up a 13-9 win to book his place in the quarter-finals, but the focus was on his celebration the previous day.
"It is not like me, I usually do that when I get beaten," Maguire told Eurosport's Rachel Casey. "There were things happening out there, he was giving it some and I was getting riled up.
"I was holding on and that was a good frame to steal, so something happened.
"I did well to get out of there before I broke something."
Asked how his right hand was feeling, Maguire added: "These are rock solid. I have done it so many times, they are rock solid."
Maguire also admitted that the fist pump from Murphy had fired him up.
"It did, to be honest with you he made a mistake there because he knows me well enough that I get on myself.
"The frame he won, the first frame, he should never have won it. I was sitting there hating myself and calling myself every name under the sun. Then the fist pump came out and I forgot about all that. I just thought, 'you’re having it'. All my attention went on him then. He made a mistake then."
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'He does not want this in!' - Murphy accidentally pots white and Maguire takes frame
Maguire has now beaten Murphy in their last four meetings and their head-to-head record is level at 12-12.
Maguire said the latest match was won on the back of his excellent safety game.
"I think looking back at the first two sessions, safety made the difference as we were not scoring and not doing anything in the balls," the Scot said. "It was coming down to safety all the time, and I sort of had his number for the safety."
Maguire will face David Gilbert in the quarter-finals, and will keep his feet on the ground.
"I have been here before," Maguire said. "I've been to a few quarter-finals and a couple of semis so there is still a long way to go.
"If you are still in the tournament you are still punching, so you just get your head down and try your hardest."
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