Masters 2022: World champion Selby defeats Maguire 6-3 to play against friend Hawkins in the quarter-finals

In the early morning of January 12, Beijing time, the 2022 Snooker Masters ended its third matchday in London, England, and world champion Mark Selby defeated Stephen Maguire 6-3 to face his friend Barry Hawkins in the quarterfinals.

Selby, who won the Masters three times in 2008, 2010 and 2013, has yet to reach the semi-finals in the tournament since losing to O'Sullivan in the 2014 finals. The last time he won the title was to beat Robertson in the 2013 final. After winning the world title for the fourth time last May, Selby failed to achieve good results in the new season, only reaching the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix.

Selby and Maguire have played each other in last year's Masters, in the first round of the first round a year ago, Selby lost to Maguire in the quarterfinals; in the 2020 Masters, Selby also lost in the first round to Carter, who played in O'Sullivan.

The first inning of the first round of the match was played for 45 minutes, with Selby leading 1-0. Maguire then scored a single 87 points to pull back a city, and the two sides drew 2-2 before half-time. In the second half, Selby regained a set lead and scored 64 points in a single game to win the sixth set, followed by the seventh set in the color ball stage, and won the match point 5-2. Maguire saved the match point with 84 points, but eventually lost 3-6.

"I don't think I'm playing well," Selby, 38, commented after the game, "it's a tough game, always against top players like Stephen [Maguire]." ”

Looking ahead to the next quarter-finals, Selby said: "Barry (Hawkins) is probably one of my best friends on the tour, I get along well with a lot of people, but we always text each other for dinner during the tournament. We also often visit each other during training, he is a good person and a good player. ”

"The atmosphere here is really great when you play, and if you lose, it's a shame to sit at home and watch the rest of the game. Luckily winning, I'll be here a few more days and looking forward to friday night (early Saturday morning Beijing time) against Barry. ”