Welsh Open: Stephen Maguire survives second round scare in Newport
Stephen Maguire kept his title defence alive after fighting back to defeat Sam Baird in round two of the Welsh Open.
Last Updated: 24/02/14 10:55pm
Scotland's Maguire, who beat Stuart Bingham to lift the title 12 months ago, came back from 3-1 down to beat Baird in Newport on Monday.
Next up for Maguire will be Welshman Andrew Pagett, who also held his nerve in a final frame decider with Gerard Greene.
Mark Selby booked an intriguing third round tie with Dominic Dale after both men recorded comfortable 4-1 wins over Dave Harold and Dechawat Poomjaeng respectively.
Judd Trump continued to show signs of improvement and advanced to the next stage courtesy of a 4-1 win over Jamie Burnett.
The former UK Championship winner has suffered a torrid season so far, including three first-round exits, but reached the final of the German Masters in his last ranking tournament and had little trouble overcoming Burnett.
Stevens through
Speaking afterwards, Trump said: "You have to stay positive, which I am doing now. I was over-analysing during the first part of the season. It is hard work to get to the last 32 - you just want to get into the latter rounds.
"Thinking back to my first match last week, if I play like that then I will probably get to the final but obviously if I play Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals it will be tough."
Matthew Stevens was a popular winner after overcoming Ian Burns 4-2, while fellow Welshman Michael White bowed out of the tournament following a 4-3 defeat to China's Xiao Guodong.
Marco Fu secured an impressive 4-1 victory over Norway's Kurt Maflin and England's Joe Perry went one better by thumping China's Liu Chuang 4-0.
Two century breaks helped Mark Allen secure his passage into the last 32 with a 4-2 win over Noppon Saengkham.
In the battle of the former world champions, three-time winner John Higgins whitewashed Ken Doherty 4-0.
There were also victories on Monday for James Wattana, Joel Walker, Andrew Higginson, Scott Donaldson and Michael Holt.