Shaun Murphy continued his strong start to the 2024/25 snooker season with a 5-0 demolition of Jamie Clarke in the Xi’an Grand Prix on Tuesday.
The Magician produced a clinical display of heavy scoring to comprehensively see off the Welshman’s challenge in the round of 64.
Murphy compiled breaks of 128, 103, 100, 84, and 76 as he raced through at the Qujiang E-Sports Centre.
The last campaign for Murphy started brightly with success in Championship League Snooker, but the Englishman failed to reached the quarter-finals of any ranking event after that.
With plenty of points to defend from the 2022/23 term, Murphy is therefore in danger of dropping outside the top 16 in the world rankings this season.
Indeed, his provisional end-of-season ranking is down at number 24 meaning that his return to the Crucible Theatre for the World Championship is far from guaranteed.
However, the signs so far during this season have been positive and Murphy is clearly feeling more confident after his run to the invitational Shanghai Masters final a month ago.
“I’ve got no idea where that came from,” a pleased Shaun Murphy told the World Snooker Tour following his three-ton performance.
“Jamie asked me at the end of the game if I found something in my game or have I been working on something?”
“No idea what happened. I suppose that shows that there’s a bit of life in the old dog just yet.
“I celebrated my 42nd birthday last week, so there’s still a bit of life in there. I’m delighted to play that game.
“If I can carry that form on, who knows how far I could go?
“The rankings don’t tell lies, and the end-of-season provisional list for me is pretty bleak reading at the moment.
“Although the Shanghai Masters is a massive tournament, this event because it carries the ranking points is equally as big if not more important for me.
“I need to make some inroads on what was a terrible season last year and start climbing that ranking again.
“The last thing I want to do is go to the qualifiers for the World Championship or something, so I’ve got my work to do.
“If I play like that, I might be okay.”
Even though Murphy has endured some difficult spells of late, the former world champion has no plans to retire any time soon.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunities that snooker has given me,” he continued.
“It gave me an opportunity in life which I’ll never ever forget. It’s great to come out to places like this.”
“We’ve been so blessed as snooker players to go around the world, and this week we’re visiting a very famous city in Xi’an.
“We’ve had the chance to go out and see the Terracotta Warriors, the fans here have been brilliant.
“It’s always great to play in front of such enthusiastic and kind fans, as they are in China. It’s another great week on the World Snooker Tour.”
Elsewhere, the round of 32 lineup was finalised as the Xi’an Grand Prix action continued on day two in China.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen, and Mark Selby were among the other marquee contenders to safely advance.
The latest big upset, however, saw Neil Robertson defeated 5-2 by Yuan Sijun.
Robertson has shown glimpses of a return to some form of late but without the overall consistency to suggest that a deep run in a big event is imminent.
Xiao Guodong, Pang Junxu, and Xu Si were among the Chinese contingent who qualified for the next round on home soil.
Zhang Anda bowed out with a 5-2 reverse against Graeme Dott, though, while Zhou Yuelong lost by the same margin to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
By the end of Wednesday’s play, the last 16 lineup will be determined.
2024 Xi’an Grand Prix draw
Round of 128
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Haris Tahir
He Guoqiang 5-4 Ashley Carty
Anthony McGill 5-0 Xing Zihao
Ricky Walden 5-3 Liam Davies
John Higgins 5-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Sunny Akani 5-2 Fan Zhengyi
Dean Young 5-3 Robert Milkins
Jimmy Robertson 5-1 Huang Jiahao
Elliot Slessor 5-0 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Chris Wakelin 5-4 Rory Thor
Mark Davis 5-3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Mark Williams 5-0 Liam Graham
Jamie Jones 5-2 Mostafa Dorgham
Stuart Bingham 5-1 Zhou Jinhao
Xu Si 5-4 Jiang Jun
Ding Junhui 4-5 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Wang Yuchen
Révész Bulcsú 5-0 David Grace
Neil Robertson 5-2 Allan Taylor
Yuan Sijun 5-1 Bai Yulu
Zhang Anda 5-1 Oliver Lines
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ma Shaojun
Hossein Vafaei 5-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Dylan Emery 5-2 Jackson Page
Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 Joshua Thomond
Si Jiahui 5-4 Jimmy White
Gong Chenzhi 5-4 Anthony Hamilton
Tom Ford 5-3 Stan Moody
Matthew Selt 5-2 Ian Burns
Joe O’Connor 5-3 Duane Jones
Zak Surety 5-2 Sanderson Lam
Hammad Miah w/o Luca Brecel
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-2 Antony Kowalski
Ma Hailong 5-3 Martin O’Donnell
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Baipat Siripaporn
Artemijs Zizins 5-3 Robbie Williams
Jak Jones 5-4 Robbie McGuigan
Tian Pengfei 5-0 Farakh Ajaib
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Ross Muir
Joe Perry 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Jordan Brown 5-2 Liam Pullen
David Gilbert 5-1 Reanne Evans
Ben Mertens 5-4 Simon Blackwell
Gary Wilson 5-4 Long Zehuang
Paul Deaville 5-3 Wu Yize
Pang Junxu 5-2 Michael Holt
Aaron Hill 5-2 Chris Totten
Mark Selby 5-3 Wang Xinbo
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Mitchell Mann
Jamie Clarke 5-0 Cao Jin
Noppon Saengkham 5-3 Andrew Pagett
Dominic Dale 5-4 Mohammed Shehab
Daniel Wells 5-4 Ali Carter
Julien Leclercq 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Lei Peifan
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Andrew Higginson
Ryan Day 5-4 Cheung Ka Wai
Scott Donaldson w/o Lim Kok Leong
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Xiao Guodong 5-2 Iulian Boiko
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Ken Doherty
David Lilley 5-3 Louis Heathcote
Mark Allen 5-2 Liu Hongyu
Round of 64
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 He Guoqiang
Anthony McGill 3-5 Ricky Walden
John Higgins 4-5 Sunny Akani
Dean Young 4-5 Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor 2-5 Chris Wakelin
Mark Davis 2-5 Mark Williams
Jamie Jones 3-5 Stuart Bingham
Xu Si 5-4 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-2 Bulcsú Révész
Neil Robertson 2-5 Yuan Sijun
Zhang Anda 2-5 Graeme Dott
Hossein Vafaei 5-3 Dylan Emery
Amir Sarkhosh 3-5 Si Jiahui
Gong Chenzhi 5-1 Tom Ford
Matthew Selt 5-4 Joe O’Connor
Zak Surety 3-5 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-0 Ma Hailong
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Artemijs Zizins
Jak Jones 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Jack Lisowski 5-2 Joe Perry
Jordan Brown 2-5 David Gilbert
Ben Mertens 1-5 Gary Wilson
Paul Deaville 0-5 Pang Junxu
Aaron Hill 0-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 5-0 Jamie Clarke
Noppon Saengkham 3-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-3 Julien Leclercq
Zhou Yuelong 2-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Matthew Stevens 2-5 Ryan Day
Barry Hawkins w/o Scott Donaldson
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Stephen Maguire
David Lilley 1-5 Mark Allen
Round of 32
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-3 Ricky Walden
Sunny Akani 3-5 Jimmy Robertson
Chris Wakelin 2-5 Mark Williams
Stuart Bingham 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 Yuan Sijun
Hossein Vafaei w/o Graeme Dott
Si Jiahui 3-5 Gong Chenzhi
Matthew Selt 5-2 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-1 Lyu Haotian
Jak Jones 5-4 Jack Lisowski
David Gilbert 5-3 Gary Wilson
Pang Junxu 4-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 2-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ryan Day 3-5 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 2-5 Mark Allen
Round of 16
Kyren Wilson 5-4 Jimmy Robertson
Mark Williams 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Hossein Vafaei
Gong Chenzhi 4-5 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-1 Jak Jones
David Gilbert 5-4 Mark Selby
Dominic Dale 1-5 Daniel Wells
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Mark Allen
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Kyren Wilson 5-1 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-2 David Gilbert
Daniel Wells 5-3 Barry Hawkins
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Kyren Wilson 6-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Judd Trump 6-1 Daniel Wells
Final (bo19)
Kyren Wilson 10-8 Judd Trump
Featured photo credit: WST
Is nobody talking about the fact that it’s not on TV? As far as I can tell Matchroom live only gives access to one table. It seems crazy for a big money event.