Ronnie O’Sullivan v Stephen Maguire live stream | Xi’an Grand Prix 2025 preview
O’Sullivan and Maguire collide (Credit: Richard Sellers/PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo)
Ronnie O’Sullivan looks to continue his strong start at the Xi’an Grand Prix when he plays Stephen Maguire in the third round on Thursday.
The Rocket, appearing in only his third event of the season, has dropped just a single frame in his opening two matches at the Qujiang Sports Complex this week.
After marking his 1,000th career victory at a ranking event with a 5-0 whitewash of Iulian Boiko, O’Sullivan then put Yao Pencheng to the sword 5-1.
A runner-up to Neil Robertson last time out at the Saudi Arabia Masters, where he compiled two maximum breaks during his semi-final win over Chris Wakelin, the seven-time World champion has built on that momentum thus far.
He now looks to continue his dominant head-to-head record against Maguire, who he has beaten in 20 of their 24 previous encounters. That includes each of the last six, albeit the most recent was at the 2022 World Championship.
The Scotsman did prevail in their most recent showdown on Asian soil at the 2012 China Open, and that is something he will use for inspiration in his quest to stop the rot.
Maguire already has silverware under his belt this term, having claimed the first ranking title of the season at the Championship League in July.
The Maverick was in fine stroke during his second-round victory over Robbie Williams, hitting two centuries on the way to a 5-2 success.
He now looks to progress to the last 16 of a conventional ranking event for only the third time in 2025.
A showdown with former Crucible finalist Jak Jones awaits the winner of this clash in the last 16.
The match breaks off at 12.30pm BST on Thursday and will be contested over the best of nine frames at the Qujiang Sports Complex in Xi’an.
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