World Snooker are to launch an investigation after match-fixing suspicions arose at the Maplin UK Championship in Telford.
The first round match between Stephen Maguire and world No 45 Jamie Burnett is at the centre of a storm following the 9-3 victory for last year’s runner-up.
Irregular betting patterns were reported over the weekend, with unusually large bets being placed on Maguire to win by that margin.
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Snooker stars after-match talk
That led to betting being suspended by bookmakers including William Hill and Victor Chandler.
Burnett, 33, admitted he was aware before the match of the situation and insisted the pressure that put upon him was a large factor in his high number of misses – particularly in the last frame.
“At the start of the last frame I thought to myself I need to try my life off here, just in case there’s something being said,” he declared.
“I was doing my shots thinking I need to get this in case people start talking and I just felt under so much pressure – it’s probably the most pressure I’ve felt in my life, to be honest.”
Officials from World Snooker stopped short of commenting on this particular match.
But the organisation did release a statement declaring that all irregular betting patterns reported are investigated.
It added: “In such cases the match in question is carefully monitored by World Snooker and a thorough assessment of the players’ performance will be made.”
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