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Stephen Maguire reveals what he hates most about snooker after crashing out of world's top 30
Stephen Maguire has revealed what he hates most about snooker, after dropping down the world rankings.
The 43-year-old was in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings for 11 consecutive years from 2005 to 2016, twice reaching world number two - and has lifted six ranking titles since turning pro in 1998, but none since 2020 when he won the Tour Championship, a year after teaming up with John Higgins to represent Scotland at the World Cup. Maguire has since dropped to 31st in the world rankings, and says that having to qualify for major tournaments is a side of the game he fails to enjoy.
Speaking to Eurosport prior to his Scottish Open meeting with Kyren Wilson a typically blunt Maguire said: "I hate going to qualifiers. I don’t lie about anything. I hate travelling to Leicester and I hate travelling to Sheffield and playing in these qualifiers, but my ranking says I have to do it. So it’s up to me to try and get back up there.
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"It’s hard because for about 15 years I was in everything, but when you fall out it’s hard to get back in. The players at the qualifiers play differently to how they do at the main venues. I think the hunger still burns because I hate getting beat. I despise getting beaten and I think that’s always the thing that keeps it burning, and long may that continue."
Maguire's best performances at the World Championships came in 2007 and 2012 when he reached the semi-finals, notably losing to John Higgins 17-15 in the former having led 14-10. And he returns to the Scottish Open in 2024 after a year away, having made history at the event as a youngster - when he became the youngest player to make an officially recognised 147 break in 2000. A feat he has repeated twice in his career.
Despite that however, he added that the event isn't always one he enjoys - saying: "I never entered it [the Scottish Open] last year because I couldn’t handle the pressure. This year I’m going to try and enjoy it, relax and try and treat it a little bit differently. This is the first time I’ve done that in the 20 odd years I’ve been coming here."
