Judd Trump holds a significant 7-3 lead over Shaun Murphy after the first session of the Shanghai Masters final.
Both players are seeking their maiden title in Shanghai. Trump is a three-time finalist, having finished runner-up in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Murphy lost the title match in 2019.
Trump came into this afternoon’s session high on confidence, after scoring a 10-3 win over Ronnie O’Sullivan yesterday. That ended the Rocket’s eight year undefeated streak in Shanghai. Murphy battled to a 10-8 win over close friend Mark Selby in his semi-final.
Prior to play there was a minute’s silence to honour the memory of legendary six-time World Champion Ray Reardon, who has sadly passed away.
Trump took the first two frames this afternoon, before Murphy embarked on a 147 attempt which came to an end with a missed black on 89.
Breaks of 55, 100 and 122 from Trump then helped him to take five on the bounce and establish a 7-1 lead. However, Murphy showed his class with contributions of 56 and 132 to remain in the hunt at 7-3 down.
They return to play the best of 21 match to a conclusion from 7:30pm local time.