Maguire thrilled to end drought on Thai shores
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Stephen Maguire of Scotland finally ended the English stranglehold on the SangSom 6-red World Championship snooker when he staged a fantastic fight back and edged Ricky Walden 8-7 in the final at the Montien Riverside Hotel.
All the previous five events had been won by England players with Walden himself lifting the trophy in 2008. Maguire, ranked No 13 in the world, had been staring at defeat before he took three frames in a row to cruise to the victory that earned him a big payday of Bt2.5 million. Walden took home Bt 1 million for finishing runner-up.
“I am happy that I have won,” said Maguire. “I have been here twice before but didn’t do very well. I had not been hoping for anything big this time as well and was only looking forward to have some good practice. I played better in the last three frames than I did in the entire match. I took my chances and that turned the match in my favour.”
Final (frame scores):
Stephen Maguire (Scotland) beat Ricky Walden (England) 8-7 (38-0, 33-0, 10-55, 0-73(73), 42-35, 66(66)-0, 63-0, 18-48, 65-5, 0-68(68), 5-60, 43-20, 0-46, 0-54(53),
21-55)
