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Maguire and Ding set for semi showdown
Snooker, 10:57, December 10, 2009 ,
Ding Junhui and Stephen Maguire have both made it through to the semi-finals of the UK Championship in Telford.
Maguire progressed after a routine 9-5 win over Peter Lines while Ding was made to fight for every frame as he eventually overcame Ali Carter 9-8 in his quarter-final.
Ding made an awful start, losing the first three frames against Carter but came back well to edge the clash and book his place in the final four, where he will meet Maguire.
"I thought I was getting better this week but I struggled in that final session, I was a little bit careless," Maguire said after his win over Lines.
"I'm in the semi-finals of the UK, so there's something there. But nobody's really fired on full cylinders yet against me.
"If somebody does that, I'll need to see whether I've got the game to contend with them. If someone comes in against me and scores really heavily, I'm going to need to improve."
Ding is looking forward to the semi-final showdown, saying: "I always enjoy playing him because he makes me try very hard. It will be my toughest match so far."
Favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan takes on Mark Selby and Liang Wenbo faces John Higgins in the other quarter-finals on Thursday.