Police have opened a match-fixing investigation into a UK Championship snooker match between Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett that finished 9-3 after heavy gambling patterns had predicted that result.

Snooker's world governing body opened its own inquiry after the match last December, and now Strathclyde Police said yesterday they have been asked by the local prosecutor's office to carry out their own investigation.

Bookmakers reported heavy betting on the 9-3 scoreline and Maguire, currently the world No. 2, eventually beat his fellow Scot by that margin after Burnett missed a routine black in the 12th frame that would have made the score 8-4.

Both players have denied any wrongdoing.

By coincidence, the two Scots have been drawn to face each other in snooker's World Championship, which starts in the north English city of Sheffield today.