• Champion of Champions

Selby edges Maguire to book semi-final spot

The 'Jester from Leicester' Mark Selby beat Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire in Group Two © PA Photos

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Mark Selby edged Stephen Maguire 6-3 to win Group Two and book a spot in the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

The pair traded frames up to 3-3 before the Jester from Leicester peeled away to advance to the last four, to be played on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, second-seed Selby saw off 15th-seed Shaun Murphy 4-2, while 10th-seed Maguire edged John Higgins, ranked seventh, 4-3.

And Leicester-born Selby, who just 48 hours before had beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the Antwerp Open, went on to win the group final on Tuesday evening.

He said: "It was a tough game and Stephen's a great player so I know I had to play well. I played OK in patches and I'm happy with the win.

"Winning in Belgium gave me a little bit of confidence coming here and it's only 20 minutes down the road so it's ideal for me."

The Champion of Champions pits together the top 16 players in the world, who are split into four groups based on their world rankings. Each group features two semi-finals then a final, with each of the four winners of the finals going through to the semi-finals of the tournament proper.

Champion of Champions results and fixtures

Group One
Game 1: Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) v Mark Davis (16)
Game 2: Ding Junhui (8) v Barry Hawkins (9)
Final: Winner Game 1 v Winner Game 2
Ties to be played on November 22

Group Two
Game 1: Mark Selby (2) 4-2 Shaun Murphy (16)
Game 2: John Higgins (7) 3-4 Stephen Maguire (10)
Final: Mark Selby 6-3 Stephen Maguire

Group Three
Game 1: Judd Trump (3) v Marco Fu (14)
Game 2: Ricky Walden (6) v Stuart Bingham (11)
Final: Winner Game 1 v Winner Game 2
Ties to be played on November 20

Group Four
Game 1: Neil Robertson (4) v Martin Gould (13)
Game 2: Mark Allen (5) v Ali Carter (12)
Final: Winner Game 1 v Winner Game 2
Ties to be played on November 21

Semi-Finals
Winner Group 1 v Winner Group 4
Mark Selby v Winner Group 3
Ties to be played on November 23

Final
Winner Semi-Final 1 v Winner Semi-Final 2
Final to be played on November 24

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