From 128 to just two, the final of the first PTC event of the season will be contested between Mark Williams and Stephen Maguire tonight…
Today began with the last 16 stage and Ronnie O’Sullivan soon found his rhythm to record a 4-1 victory over Welshman Matthew Stevens, while Mark Williams and Joe Jogia also recorded comfortable victories over Judd Trump and Nigel Bond respectively.
In for tougher tests however were Stephen Maguire and Tom Ford who were both pushed all the way before coming through to set up a quarter-final which proved to be arguably the match of the tournament so far. The first two frames were shared, breaks of 129 and 124 for Stephen met by 103 and 83 from Ford, before Scot Maguire notched further breaks of 114 and 59 to secure a 4-2 victory.
While Maguire was able to avoid a last eight upset, the same could not be said of Ronnie O’Sullivan who suffered a 4-0 whitewash at the hands of Jamie Cope. Perhaps Ronnie wanted to catch the England game later in the afternoon?
Narrowly avoiding a similar fate was Mark Williams who recovered from 3-0 down to prevail against Norwich world number 57 Barry Pinches to set up a tie with Cope which again went all the way. It was Jamie who got off to the better start with a century in the opening frame but it was the Welshman who eventually won a scrappy final frame to book his place in the final.
There he will face Maguire who brushed aside Championship League winner Marco Fu 4-1 to keep himself in the tournament. Having started last season well by winning the inaugural Pro Challenge event in Leeds it would appear that Maguire is a player who thrives in the smaller tournaments where perhaps there is less pressure upon him.
For all the results please click here.