Shaun Murphy baffled by snooker rival at UK Championship – ‘Never seen that before’

struggled to wrap his head around Stephen Maguire’s horror display in his defeat to at the .Maguire was put to the sword by Wilson, who won six frames without reply to book his place in the round of 16. During his defeat to the reigning world champion, Maguire only potted 57 per cent of his attempts and registered a highest break of 32.Murphy, who was on commentary duties for the , was left shocked by Maguire’s shambolic performance and put it down to the Scot having an off day.

“The 57 per cent pot success of Stephen Maguire, I’ve never seen that before,” said Murphy. “Who knows why he’s had such a bad day. We’ve all had them. I feel for him, but he will be back.”Some players, , have complained about the quality of the tables in York but Maguire refused to make any excuses when summing up his dreadful defeat to Wilson.”Rubbish, there’s nothing more I can say, just garbage,” he told the . “It’s a hard one to take, what can you do? Just go home and see what the next day brings.”I can’t explain it, you can’t explain that, it’s one of the worst performances ever. I’m struggling to believe how bad that was.”

In another interview with Eurosport, Maguire added: “I’ve got no words for that. Well I have got a word, but I won’t say it.”Listen, it’s nothing to do with the run of the ball, I was garbage. One thing to be happy about, at least it wasn’t a best of 19 because that would have been 10-0. At least I can go home tonight.”Maguire won the UK Championship in 2004 but had missed out on the tournament in the last two years after failing to qualify. It was a memorable return to the scene of his finest triumph, but unfortunately it was for all the wrong reasons.His frustration became increasingly clear to see as Wilson began to take full control despite not being at his brilliant best. At one point during the match, Maguire banged his cue against the table before muttering ‘f**k off’ after missing a simple pink.The 43-year-old was outscored 476 to 101 over the course of the contest, scoring precisely zero in the final frame as he slumped to a painfully one-sided defeat.