BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- English snooker veteran Peter Ebdon regained his world snooker China Open title by edging Stephen Maguire at 10-9 here on Monday.
Maguire was the 2008 China Open champion, just one year before Ebdon took the trophy. In the nail-biting 19-frame final, Maguire was 1-5 down in the afternoon session but managed to narrow the gap by surging back to level at 9-9 on Sunday midnight. After missing a red at 24-9, Maguire was left no chance in the deciding frame as Ebdon fired off to call it the end.
"I tried hard to make the match and not give him the table, but Peter played quite dominated, especially in the first session," recalled Maguire after the nine hour marathon competition. "I sat my seat for long to wait. When I came back, my hands were cold."
Even potted four centuries in his ninth tournament winning match, Ebdon, 41, was not satisfied with his own performance.
"I'm delighted to win but I felt a little bit embarrassed that I won, because I didn't handle pressure very well today. I felt Stephen played better than I did and I think he deserve to win," said Ebdon.