Stephen Maguire continued his Masters preparation with an impressive 3-0 victory over Mark Selby in the Group One final of the Championship League.

The Livewire was on top throughout, and won the opening frame after breaks of 33 and 59. The second was slightly less comprehensive for the Glasgow-born player, but Maguire still produced a break of 33 to put victory well within his reach.

He duly grabbed the opportunity with both hands in the third frame – a break of 71 sealing his place into the Championship League winners group.

Maguire sealed his passage into the play-off final in dramatic fashion. He lost the first two frames against his opponent, Ali Carter, in the semi-final but stormed back to win the match 3-2 – producing a quite brilliant 140 in frame three, in the process.

Meanwhile, Selby saw off the challenge of 2009′s champion Judd Trump with a 3-1 victory in the semis.

Trump, the defending champion, had levelled proceedings in the second frame, but a superb break of 128 by the Jester from Leicester in third turned the match on its head. And in the fourth and final frame, breaks of 33 and 43 earned Selby a place in the play-off final.

Although he was defeated, the 2008 Masters winner still amassed £1400 in prize money – the same amount as the Group One winner, Maguire.

The Scot will now play either Mark King or the legendary Jimmy White in Round 2 of the Masters next Monday, and will be hoping his Championship League form will continue into next week’s prestigious tournament, where he will be looking to build on last year’s quarter-final finish.

Rob Swan