Shaun Murphy stormed into the world championship semi‑finals in Sheffield as the defending champion, Zhao Xintong, became the 21st player to fall victim to the so-called “Crucible curse”. Murphy’s 13-10 triumph means Zhao joins the list of first-time winners who have failed to return the following year and successfully defend their crown.
Murphy won four of the first five frames of the final session to turn an 8-8 overnight deadlock into a 12-9 lead. Zhao clawed one frame back to keep his hopes alive, but the 43-year-old sealed victory with a break of 69. “I knew going into it that nothing but my best would do and thankfully I found it in the third session,” said Murphy. The 2005 champion has increasingly found his form since squeaking out a 10-9 first-round win over Fan Zhengyi.
Zhao told BBC Sport: “Shaun played really well, he gave me big pressure and played perfect snooker today. He deserved to win. I felt some pressure [as defending champion] but I still felt all right. I tried to get better, but Shaun is a good player and he played very well so congratulations to him.”
Murphy will next face John Higgins, who sealed his place in the final four after carving out an attritional 13-10 win over the 2010 champion, Neil Robertson. Higgins, who eliminated Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 16, was behind for much of the match and started the final session 9-7 in arrears. The Scot came into his own in the later stages, as the Australian’s attempt to reach a second final crumbled under pressure.
Mark Allen seized on an blunder by Barry Hawkins to book his place in the last four for the second time in four years. The game looked set for a deciding frame after Hawkins fluked a red and was faced with a simple tap up behind the pink to leave his opponent in all sorts of trouble. But Hawkins came up short with the cue ball, handing Allen the chance to clear up and win the match 13-11.
Allen will next face 22-year-old Wu Yize, who blasted 12 half-centuries or better in his 13-8 win over Hossein Vafaei. Resuming with a 10-6 lead, Wu made a break of 75 and then produced an exquisite 135 to reach the mid-session interval 12-8 ahead. When Iran’s Vafaei broke down after a break of 70, the world No 10 booked his passage into the semis with a fine 55 clearance.
