The Masters 2020: Stephen Maguire shocks Neil Robertson in first round

ByEurosport

Updated 13/01/2020 at 23:10 GMT

Stephen Maguire produced a thrilling comeback from 5-1 down to shock Neil Robertson in the first round of The Masters.

UK Championship: Stephen Maguire im Finale gegen Ding Junhui

Image credit: Getty Images

Having seen Mark Selby and Ding Junhui suffer surprise defeats in their opening matches, Robertson looked as though he would avoid the same fate as he made a strong start, with a break of 136 helping him into a 2-0 lead.

The world No 5, who won the tournament in 2012, moved 4-0 ahead before Maguire got on the board.

Robertson won the next frame for 5-1 but Maguire hit back with a 105 clearance before overcoming a 56-0 deficit to close the gap further.

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It looked as though Robertson was set to seal the win after a break of 40, but he could not finish the frame off. Maguire then upped his level to race through the 10th frame and level the match.

Again Robertson looked in pole position to clinch the match as he led 33-0 in the decider, but a missed black into the corner proved costly.

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Maguire replied with a break of 62, which included a fine long green, and that was enough to see him win 6-5 and advance to the quarter-finals where he will face David Gilbert, who eased past Mark Allen 6-1 in the evening session.

Making his Masters debut, Gilbert showed no sign of nerves as he started with breaks of 77 and 121 to lead 2-0.

He then won the next two frames after trailing 59-0 and 67-0 to lead 4-0 at the interval.

Allen cut the deficit to 4-1 but Gilbert replied with a break of 95 and then took the seventh frame to seal an impressive win.

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First round fixtures and results

Ding Junhui 3-6 Joe Perry
Mark Selby 4-6 Ali Carter
Neil Robertson 5-6 Stephen Maguire
Mark Allen 1-6 David Gilbert
Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy
John Higgins v Barry Hawkins
Kyren Wilson v Jack Lisowski
Mark Williams v Stuart Bingham

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