Shaun Murphy produced an outstanding show to beat Zhao Xintong 13-10 within the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Snooker Championship.
Zhao, the defending champion and pre-tournament favorite, fell sufferer to the notorious Curse of the Crucible in Sheffield after a dominant ultimate session from Murphy.
The latter started the competition slowly however grew in confidence because the match progressed to arrange a last-four showdown in opposition to both Neil Robertson or John Higgins.
When Zhao settled the faster of the 2 and surged right into a 3-0 lead, a runaway scoreline for the Chinese language competitor briefly seemed to be on the playing cards.
Given his kind coming into the event – three rating titles already in 2026 – it felt like a continuation of what had been seen from the world quantity 4 all 12 months.
However the 29 year-old missed his probability to stamp his authority on the tie, and he opened the door for Murphy who didn’t want a second invitation.
The eighth seed punished the lapse with 5 frames on the spin to complete the opening session 5-3 in entrance, fully shifting the momentum in his favour.
The second session subsequently lived as much as expectations, with each gamers producing a excessive customary and buying and selling heavy scoring visits.
Murphy maintained his buffer till the very finish, when Zhao fought again with a 117 century break within the fifteenth body after which gained the sixteenth as effectively to depart the scores even in tantalising style at 8-8.
At that time, a barnstorming finale was in retailer and it genuinely felt prefer it may go both means.
As an alternative, Murphy got here out for the ultimate session and blew his esteemed opponent away with a barrage of attacking snooker.
The reigning British Open champion was scientific from distance and ruthless among the many balls, reeling off breaks of 96, 80, and 70 in a superb burst that carried him right into a commanding 12-9 lead.
It left Zhao with a mountain to climb, and to his credit score he didn’t fold.
The Cyclone responded to shut the hole to 12-10 with a terrific 81 and briefly threatened to make issues attention-grabbing once more.
However Murphy remained composed and wrapped up the victory within the subsequent body with a break of 69, duly reserving his place within the semi-finals.
“I knew I needed to be someplace close to my greatest, and I feel I used to be,” Murphy stated on the BBC. “I’m delighted with how I performed.”
For Zhao, it’s a disappointing finish to what had been shaping as much as be a probably historic title defence. The Curse of the Crucible strikes once more.
Murphy, in the meantime, continues his bid in Sheffield having come so near exiting within the first spherical when he survived a deciding-frame thriller in opposition to Fan Zhengyi.
The 43 year-old returns to the only desk setup for the primary time since 2021, and he can be a tough participant to cease in this sort of kind as he chases that second world crown.
Featured photograph credit score: WST
