Wilson sweeps past Maguire to move into round two

Reigning world champion Kyren Wilson moved into the second round of the UK Championship with a convincing 6-0 victory against former winner Stephen Maguire.

Both players were struggling for form on table one, with Wilson's break of 71 in the fifth frame the first half-century of the match.

He then followed that up by winning the sixth frame, helped by a run of 86, as Maguire, the 2004 champion, suffered a tame exit from the tournament.

Wilson's victory comes after four of the 16 seeded players were eliminated from the tournament on the opening two days, including top seed and 2023 champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and fifth seed Mark Selby.

But Wilson, ranked second in the world, moved into the last 16 with ease to set up a match against either 15th seed Chris Wakelin, who defeated former UK quarter-finalist Matthew Selt 6-4.

In the opening frames, Wilson appeared to be struggling and he later revealed he had woken up with a migraine.

"In the first frame I led by 60 and Stephen could tie the frame and as I went back to my seat I felt a pulsation and it was really strong around the top of my head," said Wilson.

"It felt like my head was going to explode. It was something I had to overcome and thankfully my brother got me some headache tablets and I was able to get it under control."

For Wilson, this was his first match at a Triple Crown event since his success at the Crucible in May and he admitted being introduced as the world champion and the crowd's reaction gave him "goosebumps".

"I've been dreaming of being world champion since I was six," he added. "Since lifting that silver lady [on the top of the trophy] I've made an effort to not only enjoy it but also use it as a catalyst to really kickstart my career.

"The BBC events have that little bit of excitement factor and this is the first one since becoming world champion. It was an amazing entry into the arena and I really enjoyed it."

Meanwhile, 43-year-old Scotsman Maguire, ranked 33rd in the world, was left wondering his next moves after the defeat.

"I either think of what I'm doing in this game or I push forwards and do some hard graft," he said. "Everything is a bit of a blur from the second frame onwards. That was poor, there's no other words.

"I still despise getting beaten, but I also despise playing like that. There's getting beaten and there's not showing up. For me to enjoy it, I need to play well and be competitive. I will just go back to the practice table and do work.

"I was nervous, and mad at myself for being nervous."

In the other match in the afternoon session, Wakelin was 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 behind, but won the final three frames to defeat a dogged Selt and move into the last 16 for the first time.

"It was a tough one, really tough," said Wakelin. "I was never in front and managed to steal the ninth frame to go 5-4. Matt didn't have much left towards the end so I knew if I could hold myself together I could get over the line.

"I'd never won a match at a BBC event and I've been on tour for 12 years so that's another box ticked in my career. I'm so proud of what I've managed to achieve. I feel I can win any tournament I play in."

On his last-16 match with Wilson, Wakelin added: "We've practiced together for 10-12 years. I beat him maybe six out of 10 times in practise. He has been improving so much over the last year and so have I."