Shadow cast on tournament
A match-fixing scandal has cast a shadow over the Maplin UK Championships in Telford with Jamie Burnett strenuously denying anything was amiss in his 9-3 defeat to Stephen Maguire. A match-fixing scandal has cast a shadow over the Maplin UK Championships in Telford with Jamie Burnett strenuously denying anything was amiss in his 9-3 defeat to Stephen Maguire. Maguire defeated his fellow Scot 9-3 yesterday afternoon to book his place in the second round against Mark Allen, who defeated Stuart Bingham 9-2. That raised eyebrows, with bookmakers including William Hill and Victor Chandler having suspended their correct score markets over the weekend due to a flurry of bets on that exact scoreline. For the full story see today's Shropshire Star
A match-fixing scandal has cast a shadow over the Maplin UK Championships in Telford with Jamie Burnett strenuously denying anything was amiss in his 9-3 defeat to Stephen Maguire.
Maguire defeated his fellow Scot 9-3 yesterday afternoon to book his place in the second round against Mark Allen, who defeated Stuart Bingham 9-2.
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That raised eyebrows, with bookmakers including William Hill and Victor Chandler having suspended their correct score markets over the weekend due to a flurry of bets on that exact scoreline.
Burnett blamed nerves and poor form for his erratic display, and insisted he was "not interested" in the betting market.
"That's nothing to do with me," he said. "I just go out and play and try to win.
"If there's people doing anything behind that, I'm not interested."
Burnett, resuming the match yesterday 6-2 down, lost the first but then got the deficit back to four with a fine 113 break.
But the 33-year-old from Hamilton, famed for a 148 in the qualifying rounds of this competition in 2004 – the first recorded competitive break in excess of the 'maximum' 147 – then capitulated in the following two frames.
The last appeared particularly farcical, with Maguire's own mistakes presenting a glut of chances to his opponent.
It lasted more than 40 minutes and featured a top break of 26 from Maguire, who eventually wrapped it up on the black after Burnett got nowhere near the jaws of the pocket with what looked a very potable opportunity.
But Maguire saw nothing of concern, stating: "When you're 8-3 down in front of millions of people it's not the nicest feeling and I could see that in his face.
"There was no way he was going to win the match from there, I could tell – I've been in that position and you just want to get out of the arena.
"I was surprised he missed the black but it was a thin cut."
A statement from World Snooker was issued following the match.
It said: "We have agreements in place with both Betfair and the Association of British Bookmakers who contact World Snooker confidentially if irregular betting patterns are reported.
"In such cases the match in question is carefully monitored by World Snooker and a thorough assessment of the players' performance will be made.
"In past incidents, which are extremely rare, World Snooker have taken a particularly stringent line where players have been judged guilty of match fixing or intention to match-fix."
By Chris Hudson