Shaun Murphy produced a breathtaking display, as he prevented defending champion Kyren Wilson from even potting a ball, in a 5-0 whitewash at the Xi’an Grand Prix. Murphy recently returned to the sport’s top 16, having dropped out of the elite echelon for the first time since 2006. However, he claimed the 13th ranking crown of his career at the recent British Open to move back up to 12th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.
The Englishman must force his way into the top ten to earn a place at the lucrative invitational Riyadh Season Snooker Championship. To do so he needs to reach the final this week.
Today’s stunning performance saw Murphy rack up 533 points without reply. That left him just 14 points behind Stuart Bingham’s ranking event record of 547.
Murphy fired in breaks of 74, 141, 133, 84 and 84, before fouling the pink to hand Wilson his only six points of the match. He now progresses to face Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals.
Murphy said: “That’s pretty much as good as I’ve ever played I think. It is mad. You play so many matches around the world for all of your life. Every now and then it all comes together. Every now and then all of the hours of practice from being a child, it comes together in one little session.
“Of course the greats like Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams have been doing it for years. Every now and then people like me do it a little bit. I knew I had to do it against Kyren, he is a great champion. I didn’t expect to play that well.”
Ding earned his progression with a 5-1 win over Oliver Lines. The Chinese superstar fired in century runs of 134 and 121 en route to victory.
On facing Murphy off the back of today’s stunning display. Ding joked: “Tell him not to play that well!”
He added: “Right now I’m not thinking as far ahead as winning the tournament. I don’t want to overthink things and I also hope people don’t put too much pressure on me. In next match, anything can happen and that’s exactly what makes sport so fascinating.”
In-form Ronnie O’Sullivan sealed his quarter-final slot with a 5-2 win over former Crucible finalist Jak Jones. The seven-time World Champion crafted breaks of 135 and 100 during the win. He now plays Gary Wilson, who beat He Guoqiang 5-0.
Mark Williams made a break of 125 in the decider to beat Barry Hawkins 5-4. He progresses to face Lyu Haotian, who beat Stuart Bingham 5-3.
English 20-year-old Liam Pullen beat Aaron Hill 5-1 to make his first ever ranking event quarter-final. Up next is Daniel Wells, who was a 5-2 victor against Robert Milkins.
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match
That wasn’t too bad either … Actually, Ronnie played really well in this match. As usual he was very positive in his shot choices and it worked more often than not.
