Shaun Murphy and John Higgins played out a magical semi-final at the Snooker World Championship to decide the first finalist.
The Snooker World Championship semi-finals have brought some incredible entertainment over the last couple of days, but all good things must come to an end. The first final session in the semi-finals was fought between
John Higgins and
Shaun Murphy.
Scottish legend Higgins had the opportunity to become the oldest finalist and World Champion in the Crucible. However, "The Magician" Murphy had plenty of rabbits in his hat for the final session, as he started out with two incredible century breaks of 127 and 132 to level the scores to 13-13.
Higgins has shown throughout the tournament that when the going gets tough, "The Wizard of Wishaw" gets going. When the 51-year old finally got more than a couple of seconds at the table he restored his lead immediately, only to be rebuffed immediately by the 3rd century from Murphy in just five frames.
Perhaps the most crucial frame of the match followed next, where the rock-solid Higgins showed first signs of the Crucible pressure having an effect on him as well. A miss on the black was followed by a lacklustre safety, which Murphy duly converted with a clinical break of 78.
With the game now poised at 15-15, the next two frames brought the snooker show that had lasted 30 frames to an end, with both players scrapping it out under immense pressure and failing to convert their chances in round 31. Finally Murphy took things his way, along with reaching match point.
The Crucible cauldron was boiling at maximum temperature, as Higgins' break of 50 was cut short due to a guilt-edged black. Murphy got a chance, but failed to take advantage after a relatively routine rest-shot miss.
After a couple of safeties Murphy conjured himself another opportunity which The Magician took with aplomb, clearing out the table and entering his name as the first finalist of 2026.
The second semi-final between Wu Yize and Mark Allen is in the evening session, with things continuing on from 11-11. You can watch the exciting final frame of the match from the video below.
Source:
WST 
