Shaun Murphy fired in a barrage of big breaks to sweep Ryan Day aside 6-0 and clinch his place in the semi-finals of the Duelbits Players Championship in Wolverhampton.
World number 11 Murphy fired in three consecutive centuries to start this evening’s rout. That was a continuation of his phenomenal break building form.
The Magician made a 147 and a 145 in the same match, a 4-1 win over Daniel Wells, at last week’s Welsh Open. He went on to make the final, but fell short against Robert Milkins. That means nine-time ranking event winner Murphy is still hunting a first major title since the 2020 Welsh Open.
Murphy has now taken a huge step towards qualifying for next month’s Duelbits Tour Championship, which hosts only the best eight players of the season. He bounces to sixth position on the live one-year list.
The 40-year-old produced a blistering run of breaks at the beginning of this evening’s tie, crafting runs of 104, 107 and 105 in the first three frames. He had looked set for a record equalling four centuries in a row, but a missed red to the middle on 89. Murphy headed in for the mid-session 4-0 ahead.
Day was unable to stop the rot in the fifth and fell 5-0 behind, before a stunning contribution of 133 saw Murphy wrap up the win. He now faces either Kyren Wilson or Gary Wilson in the semis. It will be Murphy’s 49th appearance in a ranking event semi-final.
“Like any professional sportsperson, when the hours of training and graft come out in a match arena, it is really rewarding. It is so nice to know all of the hours of practice are worth it,” said 2005 World Champion Murphy.
“When you are out there and it is all going well, it is like Neo from the Matrix, all you see is green lines everywhere. You are just stopping bullets and dangers before they even get to you. The pocket looks like a bucket and the ball feels half the size. You don’t feel like you can miss. On other days you feel you can’t get near the pocket.
“I think this win tonight has me in the top eight as things stand, if the draw was made today I am in the Tour Championship. That is only based on results since December, before that I was fairly average and the one-year list reflects the whole season. If there were rankings since December I would be close to the top, but they aren’t and I’m not there yet.”
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