Stephen Maguire’s ‘disgusting’ act rocks World Snooker Championships

A bizarre act from Scotland’s Stephen Maguire has left fans feeling queasy during the World Snooker Championship.

Scotland’s Stephen Maguire admitted he ate a fly during his quarter-final loss to David Gilbert at the World Snooker Championship.

Maguire, 43, was bidding to reach a third Crucible semi-final and a first in 12 years.

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He came up short against qualifier Gilbert, 42, who sealed a 13-8 victory on Wednesday afternoon.

But there was one moment in particular that shocked viewers.

Fans watching on Eurosport caught the bizarre moment Maguire paused after seeing something on the table.

The Glaswegian leaned over to inspect it, before picking it up and popping it in his mouth.

Asked about the incident, he told journalist Phil Haigh: “It was just a fly. I spat it out when nobody was looking.”

Maguire picked up the fly. Photo: Eurosport

Don't do it. Photo: Eurosport

C'mon man, there's better ways to get your protein. Photo: Eurosport

Yeah, shouldn't have done that. Photo: Eurosport

The disgusting incident wasn’t the only talking point in the match.

Maguire was also slammed by former world snooker champion Ken Doherty for “jacking it in” early as he conceded the final frame.

Trailing 12-8 to Gilbert, Maguire was 31 points behind with the six colours – a total of 27 points – left on the table in frame 21.

Requiring one snooker, Maguire potted the yellow but then the cue ball unfortunately nestled against the pink.

Rather than try to hit the green and hide it somewhere on the table, he turned round and shook Gilbert’s hand to say well done.

And 1997 world champion Doherty said: “One snooker required. Don’t jack it in!

“This is the World Championship. Anything can happen.

“You win that frame with a snooker and the other guy is sort of twitching a little bit. Never give up in a month of Sundays!”

Maguire explained his surprise concession, which came in light of him falling 9-2 behind following a dreadful start to the tie.

Stephen Maguire had a bad taste in his mouth after the loss. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images

The Glaswegian said: “Did you see where the cue ball landed? It was happening to me all through the match.

“I would have had to get the spider out. I was never going to snooker him from that shot. Ah, there was no point, it was just wasting time really.

“I’m very disappointed. I thought I just handed the match to him. As if I said, ‘Dave, there you go, there’s your semi-final.’ Which I hate doing.

“The first session, I don’t know what happened and then it was a long way back.

“I wouldn’t take any positives from that match. Good luck to Dave, he’s a good kid.”

Qualifier Gilbert, 42, is into the semi-finals for the first time since 2019 when he was beaten by John Higgins.

The Angry Farmer said: “It was fantastic when he shook my hand!

“I will buy Stephen a pint if I ever bump into him. I was surprised as much as anybody. I am a huge Stephen Maguire fan. It’s his decision.

“Of course, you want your hand shaken as quickly as you can and get out of there.

“This is a massive achievement. Five weeks ago I couldn’t be even bothered to turn up to play the qualifiers – I’d turn up and take my £10k ($A19,000).”

This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.