Even though there’s only been two iterations of the Tour Championship, it’s already established as one of the favourite tournaments as it brings together the current top performers of the season and puts them in matches that you normally have to wait multiple rounds in others events to wait and see.
This year’s final saw two contenders go head-to-head; one of which wasn’t even supposed to be in the tournament in the first place. Mark Allen made his way to the final with an epic fightback against Murphy and a dominant performance against Selby. On the other hand, Maguire took Ding’s place in the tournament and had an extremely tough draw as he had to beat both Robertson and Trump to earn his place in the final.
Breakdown
It was an even exchanging of frames in the opening session. Allen commenced with a 2-0 lead aided by breaks of 50 and 76. However, a missed black off the spot was his downfall in Frame 3 as Maguire hit 89. Following this, Maguire was able to capitalise off an unexpected miss to left centre whilst Allen was on a break of 50. A 69 break for Maguire allowed him to equalise in what really should have been a 4-0 start for Allen.
Maguire displayed impressive safety during this match as he was able to steal Frame 5 despite Allen making a break of 40. However, Allen got back on track as he won the following two frames (one of them with a 125). Allen’s positional play was struggling in the match as he tried to win the session but Maguire held him off in order to square things up going into the evening session.
The recess clearly did wonders for Maguire as he came back out firing on all cylinders as he made his only century break of the match of 139. Conversely, Allen still seemed to be struggling as he missed fairly routine pots and wasn’t his usual self in and around the black. Nevertheless, Maguire was able to extend the score to 9-6 as he was within reach of a massive payday.
Allen played valiantly to try and stage a comeback similar to his first round bout, which included a 107 in Frame 15 however, was unable to do so as we reached the epic final frame. Allen was in first but missed another red to the right centre which allowed Maguire to respond with 44. After a lengthy safety battle between the pair at 58-38, Allen played a lethal snooker behind the black which netted him 16 points.
Perhaps he could have had the cue ball replaced again but he tried to cut the yellow into the left corner following a terrific escape attempt by Maguire. He then found himself in very similar trouble next shot. One thing led to another and Allen was able to pot an impressive brown as he was almost able to keep himself in the match for another frame. Although, a tricky pink and solid safety from his opponent turned out to be the final straw.
Afterthoughts
What I particularly enjoyed about this final is that it involved two players that I like to call ‘workers’ of the sport. These are players that maybe aren’t on every poster that is produced, or the names that are thought of when one considers the ‘top’ players; but are the ones that are always high in the rankings, giving the household names a run for their money.
There are quality individuals such as Allen and Maguire that may fly under the radar of the general viewer as they tune in hoping to see the likes of O’Sullivan, Selby, Trump etc. Maguire and Allen showed their skill as they competed against those ranked higher than them and put on a show in the process. That’s what made these two contesting the Tour final so satisfying to watch.
As for the match itself, it just came down to Maguire playing better than Allen. Maguire wasn’t playing in the same form as he was against Robertson; nor was Allen when he played Selby. Allen seemed to have lost his touch on the day as he missed many pots he would deem standard. There were multiple frames during the match where he was in with a chance first but couldn’t convert like he normally does.
On the other hand, Maguire was playing in fine form. I’ve longed to see Maguire in a final for some time now and since his resurgence this season and performance at the UK, I knew that we would be seeing more of him. Throughout the day he bettered his opponent but I think it was particularly in the safety that he did this. Maguire’s safety was excellent as he really caused Allen some trouble. Case in point, his safety shot in Frame 12 that allowed him to take the frame – you’ll know which one.
The Tour Championship is an event that involves the best of the best of the best. Allen and Maguire should both take great pride in their performances as they fell in the lower half of the rankings for this event and proved their places in this event. They once again prove just how competitive snooker is right now (link to older Short about snooker competitiveness) as they highlight to other players as well as fans that they’re ones to watch out for. Seriously, keep an eye on Maguire when it comes to the Worlds.
Like this Short? Click here to read: The Bullet Strikes! Championship League Snooker Final 2020 – Shorts Thoughts
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