Stephen Maguire completes victory over Zhao Xintong with new cue

Stephen Maguire booked his place in the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship with a borrowed cue after withstanding a fightback from Zhao Xintong in Sheffield.

The 41-year-old Scot resumed the final session of their match two frames from victory but lost four of the first five frames on Saturday before a break of 59 saw him seal a 13-9 win over the Chinese seventh seed.

Maguire, a two-time semi-finalist who has plummeted to 40 in the current world rankings, revealed he took drastic measures after being distinctly unimpressed with his form during a gruelling first-round win over Shaun Murphy.

Maguire, who is guaranteed at least £50,000 by reaching the last eight, said: "When I played Shaun I was rubbish and Shaun was even worse, so I went back up to Glasgow and made my mind up that I wasn't coming back with that cue because I felt like I had no chance.

"I borrowed my mate's cue and had a couple of days of practice with it and liked it, and it has seemed to pay off. I'll ask my mate how much he wants for it - hopefully not a lot."