Shropshire snooker fans can look forward to added “spice” when the Maplin UK Championship semi-finals get under way at the Telford International Centre tomorrow.Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire both came through quarter-finals last night to set up an England-Scotland showdown in the last four.
But there is likely to be little festive cheer between the pair with tensions continuing to fester following an incident in the 2004 Grand Prix where Maguire beat Murphy 5-2.
But that was not before Maguire had been docked a frame after leaving the arena before the start of the match to retrieve the chalk he had forgotten from his dressing room.
“It’s been well documented that Stephen is not willing to forget the incident with the chalk,” said Murphy.
“I’m not sure what I have done which he is not not going to forgive me for but if he wants to forget the incident, he knows where I am.
“He’s got a grudge he wants to hold and as long as he can be a gentleman about it, that is fine.
“We do speak at the venues and I was speaking to Stephen earlier when we are both practicing - but it does add a bit of spice.”
Both Murphy and Maguire have admitted they must both improve to stand a chance of lifting the sport’s second most prestigious prize on Sunday.
But Murphy is confident of a high-quality encounter tomorrow, when the duo will stage a repeat of last month’s Northern Ireland Trophy semi-final which Maguire edged 6-5.
“We had a fantastic game in Northern Ireland with something like 14 50-plus breaks and I’m sure tomorrow will be another great game,” he added.
“When I used to watch tournaments, the people who used to win them got better as it went on.
“I have got what it takes to win a tournament in the bag and you just have to see if it comes out.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan was today taking on Jamie Cope and Mark Selby was meeting Marco Fu in the two remaining quarter-finals.
They will conclude tonight with the winners meeting in Saturday’s second semi-final.
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