Robertson And Maguire Progress
Jimmy Robertson and Stephen Maguire are into Winners’ Week of the 2022 BetVictor Championship League in Leicester.
Robertson was pitted agains Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Marco Fu, and Ian Martin in Group 22. Robertson got off to the best of starts as the former European Masters winner brushed aside Martin 3-0 in under an hour. Thailand’s Un-Nooh got his season underway with a 2-2 draw against Fu.
Un-Nooh then went straight back on to beat Martin 3-1, thanks to breaks of 55, 69, and 51, to sit at the top of the group heading into the evening action.
Robertson drew his first game of the evening, 2-2 against Fu. To leave the group in the balance and set up a deciding tie in the last match against Un-Nooh.
Robertson knew a point would put him into Winners’ Week whilst Un-Nooh needed to win, due to the frame difference between the pair. It didn’t take Robertson too long to secure his spot in the next phase coming from 1-0 down to take the following two frames thanks to breaks of 45 and 66. Un-Nooh claimed the last frame to draw 2-2, but it was Robertson who went through.
“I am delighted. It was tough. Tough conditions with it being so hot. I knew I needed two frames in the last match. It was left in my own hands. I was a little bit rusty; it was a tough group. I am happy to come through.” – Robertson speaking to David Hendon.
“I hope for similar and even better than last season. Hopefully, I can kick on from this and win more matches this season,” added Robertson.
Over on Table 2 Stephen Maguire, Matthew Stevens, Mitchell Mann, and Si Jiahui did battle.
It all came down to the final tie of the day, where Maguire required a 3-0 defeat of Stevens to progress. He won the first two, 56-32 and 69-41 respectively, to leave himself on the verge of progression. The Scot fired in a gutsy break of 39 to clinch the frame and secure the 3-0 win he needed.
Group 20 headlines Table 1 tomorrow live on FreeSports, DAZN, Viaplay, and Matchroom.Live with Zhou Yuelong, Mark King, Chang Bingyu, and Fergal O’Brien with Group 18 live on YouTube from midday with Matthew Selt, Dominic Dale, Daniel Wells, and Duane Jones.