Duo set record for slow play
Mark King and Stephen Maguire set a new Crucible record for slow play as their second-round match began this afternoon.
Playing for a place in the quarter-finals of the Betfred.com World Championship, their second frame became the longest ever played at the Sheffield theatre, which has hosted the tournament since 1977.
When Maguire finally potted the black to win it 70-56, the clock showed they had taken one hour, 14 minutes and 58 seconds to sink all the balls.
They became bogged down in safety play on the green ball, and eventually eclipsed the previous record which was set by Peter Ebdon and Graeme Dott in the 2006 final.
Ebdon and Dott took one hour, 14 minutes and eight seconds to complete frame 27 on that occasion.
Title favourite Maguire – installed in that position after Ronnie O’Sullivan’s shock defeat to Mark Allen yesterday – had lost the first frame, so was grateful when King missed the pink to allow him to pot the final two balls.
After levelling up, it took the Scottish cueman less than 18 minutes to grab the third frame as he went ahead for the first time in the match at 2-1.
On the other table, Dott and Mark Selby were tied at 2-2 at their mid-session interval.
Selby won the next four frames to secure a 6-2 overnight lead, finishing the session with a break of 104.
