Maguire's winning run halted by Hicks

Devon's Andy Hicks brought the Scottish youngster Stephen Maguire's 16-match winning run to an end as he advanced into the last eight of the Benson and Hedges Championship at Malvern yesterday.

Devon's Andy Hicks brought the Scottish youngster Stephen Maguire's 16-match winning run to an end as he advanced into the last eight of the Benson and Hedges Championship at Malvern yesterday.

In defeating the 19-year-old Glaswegian, Hicks succeeded where Jimmy White and 15 others failed. "Hopefully I've lost to the champion because if he continues to play like that, Andy should win the title," Maguire said afterwards.

Hicks, the 1997 champion, finished off in some style with back-to-back breaks of 105 and 124. "Stephen is a very talented player who will be around for a long time," said the left-hander from Tavistock. "For me to beat him like I did is an excellent result."

Hicks now plays David Gray, who came back from 4-2 down to defeat Bradley Jones 5-4. However the 1995 world finalist Nigel Bond suffered a poor 5-4 loss against the 20-year-old Welsh prospect Ryan Day.

Brian Morgan, the 1996 Benson and Hedges champion, failed to reach the quarter-finals after a surprise defeat against another 20-year-old, Lee Spick. The Mansfield professional made breaks of 129 and 101 in his 5-3 success.

Spick plays Mark Davis, a 5-2 winner over Dominic Dale, while Day next tackles 18-year-old Shaun Murphy, who eased to a comfortable 5-1 success over Chester's Nick Walker.