Hereafter you will find the reports shared by WST on what happened in Xi’An yesterday.

Marvellous Murphy Keeps Winning Streak Going

Shaun Murphy remained on target to win back-to-back ranking titles as he made three centuries in a 6-4 defeat of Gary Wilson to set up a final clash with Mark Williams at the Xi’an Grand Prix in China.

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A match of outstanding quality included four breaks over 130 plus a further four over 70 within the ten frames, but Murphy proved unstoppable as he came from 3-1 down to take five of the last six. 

Having won the Unibet British Open in Cheltenham 14 days ago, Murphy could become the first winner of consecutive ranking titles since Judd Trump took three in a row in October 2023. The Magician will meet Williams over 19 frames on Monday, with the trophy and £177,000 top prize on the line. 

World number 12 Murphy briefly dropped out of the top 16 earlier this season but has responded to the setback with a dramatic return to form. The 43-year-old is set for his 28th ranking final and will be looking for a 14th title which would leave him just one behind Ding Junhui on the all time list. It would also continue his record of winning each of his ranking titles on one occasion only. 

Today’s result has already come with a huge bonus for Murphy as his run to the final this week has earned him a place in next month’s Riyadh Season Snooker Championship at the expense of Mark Selby.  

A run of 91 gave Murphy the opening frame before Wilson responded to take three in a row with top breaks of 81 and 139. After the interval, Murphy stormed back with 81, 131 and 140 to go 4-3 ahead, then crucially he took a tight eighth frame on the colours. World number 17 Wilson, whose run this week will take him back into the elite top 16, pulled one back with a 74, but Murphy finished in style with a 141 total clearance. 

“I felt I hadn’t done that much wrong at 3-1 down,” said Murphy, who has won his last 13 consecutive matches. “Gary played very well all the way through. In frame five he broke off and forced me to go for a long red, I potted it and won the next three frames. I had a bit of luck at the right times, on another day I could have easily lost that match. The eighth frame I knew was really important. As I have got older and got more maturity in my game you sense those moments. I haven’t always had that awareness to stick a ‘Mark Selby’ or ‘John Higgins’ frame in there. I have been a bit slow to the party but I am learning.  

“This vein of form won’t last forever but I am enjoying it. I played well in Brentwood, played well in Cheltenham and I was delighted to lift the trophy. Here this week I’ve got another chance. But I have got one of the best of all time in my way and he will give me nothing. We have had some great matches over the years and I am sure tomorrow will be no different.“

Asked about earning a place at the event in Riyadh, where a $1 million bonus will be on offer for making a ‘super maximum’ of 167 by potting the unique gold ball, Murphy added: “I am really pleased to get myself back into the top ten and to qualify for that event. What an achievement it will be for whoever makes the first 167.”

Williams On Track For New Record

Mark Williams is just one win away from becoming the oldest ever ranking event winner as he came from 3-2 down to beat Daniel Wells 6-3 and reach the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix in China. 

Williams will meet Shaun Murphy or Gary Wilson in the final on Monday with a top prize of £177,000 up for grabs. As it stands the oldest ranking event winner is Ray Reardon who was 50 years and 14 days when he landed the 1982 Professional Players Tournament, but Williams could extend that record to 50 years and 206 days. He could also become the first player to win a title in every decade from his teens through to his 50s.

The three-time World Champion will be playing in the 44th ranking final of his 33-year career and aiming for a 27th title, which would leave him just one behind Steve Davis on the all-time list. Runner-up to Zhao Xintong at the Crucible last season, Williams remains a strong contender for titles and is into his first final of the new campaign. 

An all-Welsh battle saw world number 47 Wells contesting his fourth ranking event semi-final, and he is still yet to reach a final. After sharing the first four frames, Wells edged ahead by potting the final blue and pink to take the fifth. Williams won a scrappy sixth for 3-3, at which point the highest break of the match was just 42. 

World number five Williams finally found some rhythm as a superb run of 129 gave him the lead, and a 53 in the next helped make it 5-3. In frame nine, Williams led by 33 points with just the colours left, then Wells got the snookers he needed on the yellow. But Williams later laid two tough snookers on the brown and when Wells missed the second, he offered the handshake.

“Most of my games this week have been the same, pretty poor,” admitted Williams. “I scraped over the line again, I’m glad to win. Apart from the one century break, it was tough out there. I might have looked calm but you wouldn’t want to know the names I was calling myself in my head. I struggled all match, I just stuck in there. Honestly, I don’t know how I am in the final. Can I do it once more? Probably not, I would have to play a lot better otherwise I’ll get trampled on. I will try my best.

“I have played some unbelievable matches this season and lost 5-4 or 5-3. In this tournament I haven’t looked like making breaks but I’m in the final. I’ll take winning like this over playing out of my skin and losing. 

“I suppose if I take that record as the oldest winner, Ronnie or John Higgins will beat it in a few months time. It’s just nice to be in a final, and to win a tournament would be great. At the start of this week if you had offered me the quarter-finals I would have bitten your hand off, so for the final I would have bitten your whole body off“.

As always the detailed results and scores are available on snooker.org

I don’t really have anything to add about the matches.

The Final today will be contested between two players with a combined age of 93. Snooker at the top nowadays is definitely not exactly a “young man’s game”, despite the fact that we do have some very good youngsters on the tour. But those “darn oldies” refuse to go away!

The conditions in Xi’An have been problematic all week. WST will probably say that the number of centuries and high breaks say otherwise, but what we have seen and the reactions of the commentators witnessing the outcome of some shots do tell a different story. It’s a shame for the players, but it probably can’t be helped.

Normally, the monsoon season should be over by now and the conditions should be dryer but it seems that the snooker gods have decided otherwise. Indeed, this is the weather forecast for this week in Xi’An …