Heading into this week’s World Open the pressure was on Shaun Murphy to deliver. The Masters Champion, no Masters winner had then never gone onto book their place at the World Championship, but that was a dreaded scenario that Murphy was close to realising.
Sitting in twentieth for the race to make the top 16 and automatically qualify the Crucible in April, time was quickly running out for those who wanted to book their spots with only four tournaments left to earn vital prize money.
The spotlight has been on Murphy who would be a huge casualty if he would have to go through qualifying and not take up his crucible place. Instead, despite a slew of top seeds bowing out early this week in Yushan, Murphy has saved his best for this big week and at the quarterfinal stage he was the top seed in the draw remaining.
Murphy turns up to China with huge point to prove
The one thing that people can’t accuse Shaun Murphy of being is shy and despite the pressure he was under, the 2005 World Champion was bullish about his chances of qualifying automatically and so far he has lived up to his word.
Keen to avoid the same fate as Mark Selby and Mark Allen who both crashed out in the opening round of the tournament, Murphy was electric as he thrashed Chinese wildcard, Jinhao Zhou, 5-0 in the opening round.
Having shown that he wasn’t in Yushan to mess around, Murphy was once again brilliant in the second round as he produced the same scoreline to power past the tricky Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
Although he would have been delighted to have got through his work so efficiently, his last 16 match against old rival Ding Junhui was rightly being billed as one of the matches of the tournament and Murphy might have wanted to head into that contest with a little more time at the table under his belt.
Despite the home crowd rallying behind their man, Murphy once again showed that he was in no mood to mess around. With the two sharing the first two frames, Murphy once again hit the accelerator and raced into a 3-1 lead.
Playing in front of his adoring fans, Ding was never going to lie down and clawed his back into the match making it 3-2. However, this week we have seen the Murphy that won the Masters title and despite the match being back in the balance, Murphy never lost his focus and quickly got back into his rhythm.
Winning a crucial sixth frame to lead the contest 4-2, from there Murphy wouldn’t look back and he would rattle off the match winning frame he needed to set up a quarter final against Joe O’Connor. Despite O’Connor having knocked off Judd Trump in the second round, Murphy will start that contest as the favourite and he will be hugely confident of reaching the semifinals.
As the highest seed left in the tournament this is Murphy’s tournament to lose and he will hope that he can play his best snooker to wrap up his qualification as early as possible.
John Higgins shows that he isn’t done yet with great showing at the World Open
Snooker’s famed class of 92 is slowly entering its final stages. Although he has committed to the World Grand Prix next week, Ronnie O’Sullivan seems to want to play less snooker and the golden years of the Rocket look to be coming to an end.
The same could be said of Mark Williams, although still ranked in the world’s top five. Williams has struggled for consistency of late and has admitted that after playing the game for so long, practice and absolute dedication are a little far from his mind.
The final part of snooker’s most famed trio is John Higgins. A four time world champion and winner of 30 ranking titles, Higgins has enjoyed a hall of fame career but can sometimes find himself as the forgotten man of the game thanks to the exploits of his fellow Scot, Stephen Hendry and of course Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Despite being the most active of the three players, there have been signs that Higgins is slowly showing signs of decline. Now ranked 14 in the world, his place at the Crucible in April is all but assured but whether he could compete for a fifth World Championship was very much a topic for debate.
Arriving at the World Open flying under the radar as he now normally does, Higgins showed that he was in no business to mess around and quickly dispatched Mark Davis 5-1 in the opening round.
Tougher challenges would lie ahead and in the second round Robbie Williams would make the Wizard from Wishaw work hard for his victory, eventually prevailing 5-3, setting up a last 16 contest against Yuelong Zhou.
Now reaching the twilight of his career, the one thing that Higgins knows what to do is win matches and he had to use all of his experience and grit to sneak past an inspired Zhou.
With the contest tied at four frames apiece, it was the Scot who made the most of his opportunity when finally getting in amongst the balls and he would prevail 5-4.
Higgins would then go onto become the first man to book his place in the semi finals when he overcame another Chinese star in the shape of Junxu Pang.
Clearly buoyed by his stunning win over Zhou in the previous round, Higgins started the contest as the marginal favourite and showed all of his class as he thrashed his opponent 5-0 to set up a semifinal clash against world 89, Zak Surety.
Surety has upset the odds to reach a first ranking semifinal and despite picking up some great wins so far this week, this is a contest that Higgins should win.
Higgins has the opportunity to lay down a serious marker this week and show that despite his age and the fact that his wonderful career is slowly coming to an end, he is a major force in the game and can win a fifth World Championship.
Andrew Blakely
At 35, Andrew Blakely stands as a seasoned expert in both snooker and its betting intricacies. A dedicated player and analyst, he offers keen insights derived from years in the field. Through his writings, Andrew aspires to guide enthusiasts navigating the captivating world of snooker betting.
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