Shaun Murphy reached the quarter-finals of the Johnstone's Paint Masters for the 14th time with a 6-3 victory over Gary Wilson and predicts it will be a "delight" to meet Neil Robertson next.
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Murphy, champion here in 2015, eased into a 4-0 lead tonight then fended off a Wilson comeback to take the last two frames and set up a tie with Robertson on Thursday. The pair have met twice in the final at Alexandra Palace, Robertson winning the title in 2012 and Murphy gaining revenge three years later.
So far this season, Murphy has enjoyed several deep runs, notably reaching the final of the Shanghai Masters and the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. He will hope that this week he can go all the way to the £350,000 top prize and join the group of just 11 players to have won the Masters on multiple occasions.
Wilson had chances in all four frames before the interval, but couldn't take them and Murphy punished him, compiling runs of 69, 56 and 64 as he built a 4-0 advantage. After the break, the momentum changed as Wilson fired runs of 101 and 92, then took frame seven on the colours to close to 4-3.
The Tyneside cueman also had a clear scoring opportunity in frame eight but missed a straight-forward red to a top corner leading 20-1, and Murphy punished him with a break of 103. And another error from Wilson in the ninth, failing to pot the pink to corner when he trailed 45-24, ended his hopes.
"It was a match of momentum," said world number seven Murphy. "I knew I had the advantage of more experience at this venue and I used that in the first four frames, I was pleased to be clinical with my chances. I was expecting Gary to make a run after that and when it got to 4-3 it wasn't red alert, but it was yellow alert. So I was pleased to make a good break for 5-3. My game is in good shape.
"It will be a delight to play Neil. We turned pro in the same year in 1998 and I have immense respect for him. We take the mickey out of him a bit because he doesn't know how sat-nav works so isn't guaranteed to be here. But I'll be here and hoping to bring my A game. Over the last couple of days people have been saying that Neil is on a freeroll. But he's a multiple winner, not a wild card who has never been here before."
Wilson was making his first appearance at Alexandra Palace as his only previous Masters match was behind closed doors in 2021. But he finished the night dejected. "I couldn't even enjoy the occasion because I'm frustrated with the way I'm playing," he said. "I have been going through it for a while and it seems to be getting worse."
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