Former world No. 2 Stephen Maguire saw red when he took his frustrations out on the table in qualifying for the 2026 World Snooker Championship. The Scot was knocked out of the third qualifying round by Liam Highfield following a 10-5 defeat on Monday. Maguire, 45, has been a frequent attendee at the Crucible for more than 20 years.

However, he failed to show the proper etiquette when his emotions got the better of him this week. 'On Fire' was up in the sixth frame but trailed by five to one when he briefly lost his head. The veteran failed to convert a black when he cut it a little too fine and banked his shot off the cushion, giving Highfield a route back into the frame. With nothing else around to vent his frustrations, Maguire opted to wrap his right fist into the wooden side of the table instead. He went on to rescue the frame and briefly cut the deficit to 4-2, but a late surge from world No. 90 Highfield landed him a spot in the final round of qualifiers.

The top 16 players in the world are already qualified and seeded for the main draw in Sheffield. However, 16 spots remain open as some of the biggest names in snooker look to secure their places in the World Championship.

Among those more recognisable names vying for a shot at glory are Stuart Bingham, Luca Brecel, Jack Lisowski, Ali Carter, Zhang Anda, Jak Jones and Hossein Vafaei. However, a host of those stars could be headed for the exit before the final draw is made on Thursday morning.

It's not the first time Maguire has let his frustrations loose on his surroundings when a result has gone against him. The Scot hit a wall twice in German Masters qualifying after conceding to Gao Yang when he potted the black and white in the same shot.

Highfield's reward for beating Maguire is a fourth-round qualifier against fellow Englishman and world No. 58 Oliver Lines. The pair will play on Wednesday, and the winner of that matchup will advance to the main World Championship draw.

Maguire featured at every edition of the World Snooker Championship between 2004 and 2022. And despite reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024 competition, he has now failed to qualify for three of the last four tournaments.

There was cause for optimism last summer when Maguire rolled back the years to claim the Championship League title in July 2025. And save for a semi-final appearance at the International Championship in November, he has struggled to build momentum following such a bright start to the campaign.