Stephen Maguire lived up to his nickname of ‘On Fire’ with a superb performance to claim the Arcaden Shopping Open in Munich.
The Scotsman claimed the last Players Tour Championship event of the campaign by edging Stephen Hendry 4-3 in the last four before an excellent 4-2 triumph over Joe Perry in the final.
In front of a capacity crowd in Germany, it was third time lucky for the 30 year-old in the final of a PTC tournament – his first trophy in almost four years.
Maguire began the final in spectacular fashion, sinking a long red before going on to make an attempt at a maximum break.
The perfect frame looked on when he opened the reds up nicely but missed the 14th black off the spot while on 105 to fall just short of his third career 147.
The former UK Champion doubled his advantage in the subsequent frame with a cool 77 before Perry got his name on the scoreboard after a 63 despite allowing his opponent in for a chance of a clearance following a missed black.
Maguire, though, regained his two frame cushion with the break of the week in the fourth frame.
The Glaswegian consistently ran out of position but pulled off some instinctive pots to compile an impressive 93 clearance.
A 75 from Englishman Perry offered a lifeline of a reprieve but Maguire’s 62 in the last proved enough for a morale-boosting victory ahead of next week’s Masters in London.
Earlier in the day, Maguire came from 2-0 and 3-2 behind to oust Hendry in a decider and thus end his countryman’s hopes of making the PTC Grand Finals in Galway while Perry whitewashed Martin Gould 4-0.
The Grand Finals this March will feature Maguire, Perry and Gould as the top 24 in the Order of Merit go head to head for an overall winner’s cheque of £70,000.
Another successful event in mainland Europe then and we will be returning next month for the 2012 German Masters.
The full list of results can be viewed by clicking here.
