Ronnie O'Sullivan's bid to make snooker history fell at the first hurdle as he lost 6-5 against world number two Stephen Maguire at Wembley.

The Rocket had been seeking to become the first player to make the Masters final five times in succession but faced a big challenge against world number two Maguire.

A partisan crowd was aghast when a strong start from the Scotsman including breaks 0f 68, 103 and 84 combined to give him a 4-1 lead.

But then O'Sullivan finally got started with a magnificent 112 to keep himself in the match.

He looked much cooler thank Maguire as the frames progressed, despite giving up in the eighth frame to leave himself 5-3 down.

Breaks of 66 and 64 helped set up a decider and, after an initial error, was handed a chance to complete the fightback when Maguire cannoned the blue on 49. O'Sullivan missed an easy blue to hand the match to Maguire.

In the other first-round Masters fixture today Shaun Murphy beat fellow Englishman Ali Carter 6-3.

Murphy never looked troubled although neither player contributed centuries and it was Carter's fifth-frame 77 which proved to be the highest of the match.
© Adfero Ltd