PTC Grand Finals 2012 (Day 4) - Two Stephens in semis

Stephen Maguire regained his fire

First two names to get their semi-finals place booked are Stephen Maguire, who beat Ricky Walden after a thrilling match ended on a 4-3 result, and his namesake Stephen Lee, who practically whitewashed the world number one, Mark Selby 4-0.

If yesterday Stephen Maguire seemed to have left his on-fire-attitude at home, today things changed. I guess he had it sent to him by e-mail or something, because he just couldn't stop potting balls.

Although the Scottish player missed a brown of its spot early in the first frame, thus Walden taking his chances and winning the opener with a 59, he managed to get back on track quite quickly and fired in breaks of 92, 77 and 82 to almost land in the semi-finals.

Still, there was plenty of work to be done, Walden taking care of that especially when Maguire missed a straight blue at 24, the Englishman clearing with a great 104 to reduce the gap at just one point.

One point was soon transformed into nothing, when Maguire missed again, this time at 47, Walden using runs of 27 and 32 to force a decider.

Big Lee, too strong for Selby

The last frame saw the Scotsman losing position on 30, this time though his baize rival not being able to make the most of it, a poor safety shot letting a red on, hence Maguire retuning for a 31 break and a ticket for tomorrow's semis.

The second quarter-finals battle of cues felt more like a one-way-traffic, Stephen Lee's dominance proving the key for a clear 4-0 victory.

The match started with both players letting the nerves getting in the way of playing, but Selby was in the leading position. Still, by the end of the first frame Lee was reducing the difference and even managed to win it.

What followed next was a classical case of keeping-your-opponent-in-his-seat, Lee hitting in breaks of 57, 114 and 69 to win the remaining frames and also the match.

Two more quarter-finals matches are to be played today, as it follows:

6pm
*all hours are Ireland time

TV coverage: