Welsh Open - 1st Semi-Final

Saturday 20th February 2021

Afternoon

Best of 11 frames.

Featured Match -

Report written by Graeme Drayton from The 15 Red Podcast team

Referee - John Pellew

Stephen Maguire v Jordan Brown 1 - 5

Highest Breaks - Brown 135 (Frame 1), Brown 113 (Frame 4)

To get to the semis Jordan Brown had beaten Luo Honghao (world number 64) in the first round 4 - 0, world number 51, Sam Craigie 4 - 3 in the 64. His next victim was the talented swiss player Alexander Ursenbacher, 62nd in the world ranking and in the last 32 on another decider 4 - 3. He had to come through another decider in the last 16, beating 50th ranked Mark King 4 - 3.  And then came the shocker, he won yet another deciding frame against the world number 4 Mark Selby on a black ball finish. Selby missed the into the right middle which was very reminiscent of the final black that Stephen Hendry had missed against Mark Williams in the 1998 Masters final.  

In the opening round Stephen Maguire beat Dominic Dale 4 - 1. Then he beat Matthew Stevens 4 - 1 in the last 64. He knocked Matthew Selt out in the last 32, 4 - 2. In the last 16 he beat Pang Junxu 4 - 2, who had provided a shock in the last 64 beating Ding Junhui 4 - 2. In the Quarter-final beat the defending champion, Shaun Murphy 5 - 4.

Frame 1, Maguire got the match underway. Brown plays in his first ranking semi-final, after winning 4 consecutive deciding frames. It was the 81st ranked Northern-Irish man who drew first blood, as he potted a long red into the left corner pocket. During the break, he potted a brilliant long blue into the yellow pocket. If Brown had felt any nerves before the match, he was showing no signs of any as he looked confident, he was striking the cue-ball very well. He went onto to produce a total clearance of 135 and recorded the first century of the match. He had taken the opener in what was arguably the biggest match of his career so far. What a cracking start, 1 - 0 .

Frame 2, Brown was the 14/1 outsider of the four men before the this match began, he broke off the second frame. Maguire was clearly stunned by the start his opponent had made, as he made an error in safety by catching a red too thick and Brown confidently slammed a red into the heart of the left corner and was in again. With the break on 52, he missed the first the red of of the match into the right middle pocket. Maguire attempt his first pot but missed a long red into the yellow pocket. Brown was left a red into left corner, he calmly stepped in and cleared it. After making a break of 6, he missed the cannoned into the green from the blue and failed to land on the red next to green spot. He took it on into the right middle but missed it. Maguire missed a red to the left corner, the cue-ball ran off into the right corner. Brown was left a chance and potted the red that (Maguire had missed) over the right corner, but ran into trouble as the cue-ball stuck onto the side of the pack and safe into baulk off the green. At this stage Brown led 63 - 0, with 75 remaining. Maguire left no option for Brown who had to open the reds up on the next safety shot, but he played the cue-ball excellently into baulk. After Maguire's next safety, Brown missed a red into left corner. Maguire potted a long red into the same pocket. After potting the second to last red into the right corner, the cue-ball cannoned of the red next to it which in turn pushed the black on the bottom cushion and Maguire laid a snooker behind it. The scores were 31 - 63. The red was near the yellow spot, Brown missed the red on first attempt, but hit it on the second occasion and very nearly got a snooker behind the yellow. Maguire sunk the red into the green pocket, and just as it looked like Maguire was gonna steal the frame he landed awkwardly on the pink, he still potted it. The cue-ball finished on the bottom corner and from a really tight angle put the black away to win the frame 68 - 63 and levelled the match at 1 - 1. 

Frame 3, started with a fantastic long red into left corner, but was unlucky not to finish on the black and played off the green. A few shots later, Maguire took on a long red to left corner which he missed, the red smashed into the reds opening up the frame v- Maguire was struggling to get any rhythm going whatsoever. Brown could not see a potable red so opted to play safe. After some safety shots, Maguire took on a long red into the right corner and to his disappointment, he missed it. This time Brown took his chance and took a long red into the left corner. There were 4 awkward reds on the right cushion, and two were resting on the left side. He took a 57-point lead into the battle, Maguire smashed open the reds, got a good cue-ball and left nothing on from Brown. Then Maguire executed a very good plant into right corner. The brake broke down on 15 as he potted a red into right corner but cannoned off another red and was left with no color to go for. Brown was left a good opportunity as Maguire safety shot hit the brown full in the face and left a long red into right corner, which Brown took and made a 46 break and re-took the lead. Jordan Brown had Stephen Maguire on the racks 2 - 1. 

Frame 4, Brown's brake off was not the best, he left a red for Maguire into the right corner the Scotsman took it on and missed it. It was not a difficult pot but Maguire was having a really hard time of it. Jordan Brown was blowing him away. Brown was gifted an easy starter, which he took. Brown potted the next red he smashed the cue-ball in the pack of reds but finished a little awkward and had to take the long blue into the green pocket and with Brown on 98% pot success rate he potted it with ease. His confidence was overflowing, he was not missing a shot and had very quickly built up a frame winning break. He went onto to make his second century of the match with a break of 113 to take a two frame lead over the world number 8. 3 - 1. 

They headed into the mid-session interval, Jordan Brown had Stephen Maguire on the racks. The world number 81 was playing as though he had no pressure on shoulders and as if he was ranked 16th or above. and was enjoying the semi-final. Maguire had a-lot to think about as his long game was letting him down. 

As they began frame 5, Maguire broke off left a long red into the right corner for Brown, surprisingly for the way Brown was playing, he missed it. Maguire stepped in with a good chance to pull a frame back. Maguire missed a blue of the spot with the break on 23. Brown potted a red into right corner from difficult angle and held well for the black, but the spilt on the pack went wrong, he went for an advent ours shot into the green pocket which he failed to get. Maguire potted a good red into the left middle and then missed an easy black. Brown should have taken advantage but he failed to convert a straight-forward red into right corner and Maguire was in again. He only made 9 and missed the black from it's spot. Could Brown take control this time? the answer was no. He ran out of position on a break of 16.  Maguire committed a 4-point foul after he missed hit a red in baulk, but he hit on the 2nd time of asking and left nothing available. Brown had played a brilliant safety putting the cue-ball over the green pocket, the white hung over the pocket for a few seconds but eventually gravity took over and it dropped it. Maguire's long game wasn't getting any better as he missed yet another red into left corner, and Brown was in again. The last red was on the right cushion, there was no was he could get onto after potting the brown. Maguire escaped the snooker, the red went over the right corner. Brown cut the red in but didn't get the best kiss of the pink. He was 19-points in front. Now he only needed the blue and yellow for the frame after playing a fantastic shot on the blue into the green pocket he was unlucky as the cue-ball finished stuck behind the yellow. So a safety battle on the yellow ensured. Brown laid a brilliant snooker, he put the cue-ball on the bottom cushion just to the right of the black, yellow was on the baulk cushion the pink and blue was the blockers. Maguire hit the brown on the escape, and now he needed one snooker. The scores were 65 - 37 to Brown. Maguire left a long yellow for Brown which he missed, the yellow went back up the table, which hit the brown, the brown nearly potted the green, lucky escape for Brown.  Maguire potted the yellow, green, brown and blue. He got the snooker behind the black, with the pink finishing in the baulk area, Brown escaped. It was 65 - 51 to Brown and so close to going 3 frames up on the Scotsman and two frames away from the final. Maguire attempted to get the cue-ball behind the black, it would have been perfect but it just drifted out too much to Brown an easy escape. As Maguire tried another snooker, the cue-ball hit the jaw of the right middle pocket and left the pink over the yellow pocket but before Brown even took the shot Maguire conceded. 4 - 1. 

Frame 6,  Maguire made a mistake, he caught a red thick of the side of the pack and knocked into a red full ball but had not left Brown a chance. A few moments later, Brown missed the pack of reds while trying to nestle into them off the right cushion. On the second time of asking he missed them again, he nearly hit the black but the cue-ball just stopped short. Maguire cut in a difficult red into the left corner, but he missed the blue into the green pocket. Brown potted a red into the left middle but could not take the chance with the break on 6, he missed a red into the left corner. Then Maguire made a 6, after potting a red into left middle, the cue-ball crashed into the pack and he left on no color, he nominated the brown but missed and was put back in to play the shot again. He then nominated the yellow which he hit. The safety battle commenced with the scores level at 10 - 10. Maguire then potted the next red into the right corner and failed to play a simple roll up behind the yellow, he hit but did not get the snooker. Brown missed a thin clip on the red, giving Maguire 4-points and leaving a pot on to left corner which he missed but got the cue-ball back to baulk. Brown took on a very risky long pot into the right corner which left a half chance for Maguire, he really was struggling as he missed the red to right middle. Then Brown put Maguire under serious pressure, with the reds open Brown had managed to put cue-ball behind the yellow. Maguire missed all reds, Brown took on a plant to left corner and missed it. Two reds sat on top of each other over left corner, Maguire easily converted the plant was set about reducing the frame deficit. There were five really awkward reds on the bottom cushion congested around the black spot that was gonna need disturbing if he were to win the frame at that visit. With the brake on 33, he potted the black, the cue-ball ran into the bunch, the reds scattered and he was left a tricky pot along the bottom cushion, but took it very well but missed the pick into the right middle. With the scores on 47 - 14, Brown was gifted a chance, potted a red into left corner and got nicely onto the black. After taking on the tricky last red down the cushion into right corner, he blasted the pink into the middle, finishing on the yellow. Brown was 47 - 48 in front going into the colors, he cleared them all and went one frame away from a place in the final. What a brilliant performance this had been from the Northern Irish man. 5 - 1.

Frame 7, Brown missed a red to right corner and Maguire started out with a hard fought 19 break. The break building that Maguire had produced in the previous rounds had deserted him, the highest break in the match was 33. Maguire fouled after not making contact with a red from a safety shot. Brown took a red into left corner, and now he wanted to complete the job and book his place in tomorrow's Welsh Open final. He then missed a red into right corner. The cue-ball was short of the baulk line and Maguire was back in, after potting a red to right corner he run out of position. He played an unusual safety shot as he smacked the yellow into the pack, pushing reds over right and left corner. With the scores at 20 - 28 to Brow. Jordan Brown potted the one into the right corner from the baulk area. Now the opportunity to reach the final had become a reality, he had already potted frame ball but just could not sink a red into the right corner along the bottom cushion. It was 28 - 66 to Brown now and was favorite to take the frame as Maguire needed one snooker with one red remaining. Brown refused to pot the red to left corner, Maguire left a tempter for Brown who took a wild swing and missed it. Maguire's next shot was to be his last of the tournament, as he left the red over the right corner and conceded the frame. Jordan Brown made it to his first ever ranking final with an impressive 6 - 1 victory.