Probe on price-fixing suspicions
Tuesday 16th December 2008, 8:30AM GMT.
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.
- See also: Gunnell: “Snooker is clean”
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.”
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
