Stephen Maguire has landed his seventh ranking title and first for five years by winning the Championship League in Leicester.
The 44-year-old came through the three group stages of the epic tournament, which started on June 30, before beating Joe O’Connor 3-1 in Wednesday night’s final.
The Scot had to play 10 games to get his hands on the trophy, winning eight of them as he beat the likes of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Zhang Anda and Matthew Selt along the way to claiming the first title of the season.
O’Connor also had a fantastic event, winning all nine of his group stage matches to reach the final, but breaks of 85, 61 and 89 saw Maguire triumph.
It is Maguire’s first ranking title since the 2020 Tour Championship and comes 21 years after his first at the 2004 European Open.
It has been a lean spell on the table for the world number two, although there were signs of life in the second half of last season as he reached the Welsh Open final after starting working with former pro Chris Small.
He was then hampered by back trouble, forced to pull out of the World Grand Prix and well beaten in World Championship qualifying by Gao Yang.
That issue appears to be behind him, though, and he pockets £33,000 for coming out on top at the Mattioli Arena.
‘I’m just relieved, it’s been a long month, I feel like I’ve been up and down the motorway all the time but it’s a good reward at the end,’ he said.
‘Coming in today, there was two groups left, eight players. It felt more important than coming down the last couple of times because we knew somebody was going home with the trophy, there was going to be a winner and seven losers. To be the last man standing so early on in the season, I’m over the moon.
‘It gives me a head start [in qualifying] for the Grand Prix and other tournaments, little bit of confidence. It’s not the biggest tournament in the world but it’s a ranking event so I’ll take it.’
Maguire has been a rampant tinkerer with cues in recent years, at times feeling it has been to his detriment, but now sees it as a positive.
He won the event with a cue he has only been playing with for two weeks, the second piece of wood he used in this tournament alone.
‘I’m keeping the cue,’ he said. ‘Thanks to [manufacturer] Ton Praram.
‘I got the cue two weeks ago now, I’ve used two different cues in this event, so people who say you can’t use different cues, they’re full of nonsense, but I like this one.’
Stephen Maguire’s Championship League Results
First Group Stage
3-0 Michael Holt
3-0 Liam Graham
3-1 James Cahill
Second Group Stage
3-1 Zhang Anda
3-1 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
2-2 Yuan Sijun
Third Group Stage
3-0 Matt Selt
3-0 Ben Mertens
1-3 Pang Junxu
Final
3-1 Joe O’Connor
Speaking at the Crucible in 2022, after beating now world champion Zhao Xintong, Maguire bemoaned his relentless cue swapping.
‘I’ve been struggling with cues for the last few years really. In tournaments I’ve played with about 30 cues over the last few years,’ he said.
‘It’s terrible, and I think I’ve paid the price for it with my ranking.’
He kept on changing, though, saying in November last year after qualifying for the UK Championship: ‘I’m always messing about with cues and I was messing about with far too many cues. I think I’ve used 10 cues this season in tournaments.
‘I wasn’t getting anywhere with it. I went to a qualifier in Sheffield and it’s the worst I’ve ever played as a professional.’
The world number 27 has bounced back from that low, despite the continued tinkering, and will go into next month’s Saudi Arabia Masters and Wuhan Open with renewed confidence.
Which cue he takes with him is yet to be seen.
