World Snooker Championship 2022 - Stephen Maguire holds off Shaun Murphy fightback to secure place in round two

Stephen Maguire sparked into life at the ideal time to beat Shaun Murphy 10-8 and book his place in the second round of the World Championship. Maguire held a 6-3 lead overnight despite not playing brilliantly on Saturday, and found himself on the back foot as Murphy roared back.

Ad/> From 6-2 down, Murphy edged into an 8-7 lead, only for Maguire to pounce on a surprising missed red from his opponent in the 16th and he took control from that point to set up a meeting with Zhao Xintong. World Championship'Apologies for those adept at lip-reading' — Maguire frustrated by safety error8 HOURS AGO Murphy was guilty of missing too many easy balls on Saturday, but he came out impressively with a statement break in the opening frame of the final session.

He got in with a sizzling long red to the bottom left and brought up the 576th century of his career with a total clearance of 130. Maguire pounced on Murphy errors on Saturday, but at the start of the second session it was the Scot who was off colour and a run of 61 from Murphy cut the gap to one.

The 12th had a big feel to it, with both players having chances. Maguire had a face like thunder in his seat after he failed to lay a decent safety and offered a chance to Murphy, but later in the frame the Scot benefited from an outrageous fluke — as he missed a red to the bottom left by a distance only to see it career up and down the table and into the bottom right — to get his first frame of the evening on the board.