SHAUN MURPHY was left bewildered by Stephen Maguire’s horror performance in the UK Championship.
The Scot was knocked out in the Round of 32 by Kyren Wilson 6-0.
He failed to land a glove on the world champion, scoring a highest break of just 32, while potting just 57 per cent of his attempts.
Murphy was shocked by that statistic and put it down to Maguire having an off day.
He said on commentary for the BBC: “The 57 per cent pot success of Stephen Maguire, I’ve never seen that before.
“Who knows why he’s had such a bad day. We’ve all had them, I feel for him, but he will be back.”
Maguire, 43, was scathing of his performance after the match and was keen to state that only he was to blame – not the table.
He told the BBC: “Rubbish, there’s nothing more I can say. Just garbage.
“It’s a hard one to take, what can you do? Just go home and see what the next day brings.
“I can’t explain it, you can’t explain that, it’s one of the worst performances ever. I’m struggling to believe how bad that was.”
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SNOOKER's Class of '92 are fading away - with two English superstars ready to forge a new era.
Judd Trump has declared he’s ready to battle reigning world champion Kyren Wilson for “the next 10 years” or more.
Current world No 1 Trump admitted Wilson’s meteoric rise over the last twelve months has “pushed him forward” as a player.
The Class of ’92 refers to the legendary trio of Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, and Mark Williamson.
With 14 world titles among them, the three players have dominated UK snooker over the past three decades.
But as their powers begin to fade, Wilson and Trump appear ready to fill the rivalry vacuum.
Read more on snooker’s new big rivalry between Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson…
In a seprate interview with Eurosport, Maguire added: “I’ve no words for that. Well I have got a word, but I won’t say it.
“Listen, it’s nothing to do with the run of the ball, I was garbage. One thing to be happy about, at least it wasn’t a best of 19 because that would have been 10-0. At least I can go home tonight.
“I have to keep trying. Obviously that match there, I haven’t got a word for it, but hopefully it’s a one-off.”
Wilson, 32, progresses to the Round of 16 where he will face Chris Wakelin, and he is one of the favourites to triumph in York after Ronnie O’Sullivan was dumped out by Barry Hawkins.
