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Higgins battered in Berlin

Image: John Higgins: First whitewash defeat in 16 years

Stephen Maguire inflicted a first whitewash defeat on world champion John Higgins for 16 years at the German Masters.

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Maguire routs fellow Scot to reach last eight

Stephen Maguire inflicted a first whitewash defeat on world champion John Higgins for 16 years in their all-Scottish second round clash at the German Masters. Higgins' highest break was just 33 as he was beaten 5-0 for the first time since Karl Burrows routed him in the 1996 Asian Classic. Maguire took a tense opener and went 3-0 up with breaks of 74 and 89 before Higgins failed to get the snookers required in the next, going into the break 4-0 down. Maguire was in first with 52 after the resumption and potted two impressive middle-pocket reds before eventually getting over the line. He will face a quarter-final against Judd Trump, who beat Mark Allen 5-2 in a rematch of the UK Championship final.

Heroics

Trump led 2-0 and, though Allen halved the deficit, the Bristolian surged 3-1 ahead despite missing out on a century. He went 4-1 up before Allen responded again but Trump came from 47-26 down to take frame seven and the match. Shaun Murphy also reached the quarter-finals with a 5-2 win over Ricky Walden. Murphy came from 43-5 down to take the opener and added a 128 to move 2-0 up. It was 4-0 at the interval after Walden's comeback in frame four came up short. Walden took the first frame back in quick time and then made it 4-2, but a seemingly never-ending seventh frame went Murphy's way and he progressed to face Mark Selby or Graeme Dott. The remaining second round clash on Thursday saw Stephen Lee overcome Chinese rookie Yu Delu 5-3. Yu caused a major upset by knocking out fellow countryman Ding Junhui earlier in the day but could not repeat his heroics against in-form Lee.

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