Mark Selby booked his spot in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Shanghai Masters with a strong performance on Tuesday in China.
On a day where there was relentlessly heavy scoring at the prestigious invitational, Selby thrashed old rival Shaun Murphy 6-0 to reach the last eight.
The four-time world champion compiled breaks of 137, 115, 81, 73, 66, and 52 as he limited his fellow Englishman to just 52 points across the entire contest.
“I played more or less faultless,” Mark Selby, who first crossed paths with Murphy on the junior circuit three decades ago, told the World Snooker Tour.
“I didn’t really miss too many shots – one or two. But overall it was a good display, so I can’t be too critical with myself.”
“My first proper match of the season in a big comp, and to do it against somebody of Shaun’s class is really pleasing.
“Shaun’s a little bit older than me, but I remember the first time I saw him, and you could tell that he stood out above all the other juniors.
“His technique was more or less exactly the same as it is now, it was great to watch. He was so far ahead of everyone else at that junior level.
“I think he played in the Dr. Marten’s Premier League when he was 12 or 13 or something. It just shows what a class act he is.
“It’s crazy but it’s great as well to see that we’re still competing at the top level after all these years. We’ve had some great battles.
“Shaun has bashed me up plenty of times and vice versa, and I’m sure we’ll play each other again many times before we finish our career.
“I’ve been playing a little bit, [but] nowhere near as much as I put in over previous years going into a new season.
“After I lost to Ben [Woollaston] in the World Championships, I had to put a new ferrule on, because my ferrule was loose during the game.
“Rather than just put a brass ferrule back on, I thought I’d try a titanium one. Everyone was going on about them, so I thought I’m going to have to get used to a brass ferrule anyway.
“It was no different with the titanium, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’ve stuck with it and kept it on, and it seems okay at the moment.
“Long may it continue, as long as it doesn’t come loose.
“It was really tough [losing at the Crucible]. Taking nothing away from Ben, he played well and deserved to win the match over two sessions.
“But it was just frustrating, because I went in there as confident as I could be. I played well during the season, I played well against John [Higgins] in the last tournament before the World Championships.
“Then things happened that were kind of out of my control. I miscued in one of the frames and ended up splitting my tip.
“But I’m not making any excuses – it happened. It’s just unfortunate that it happened in that comp at that particular time.”
On a crazy second day at the Shanghai Masters, Zhang Anda compiled a magnificent 147 break against home favourite Ding Junhui.
The pair traded a brace of tons as their battle went all the way to a deciding frame, which Ding edged courtesy of a timely 68 contribution.
The tons from Ding took his career tally to 700, seeing China’s number one become only the eighth player in history to reach the milestone.
There was even more prolific scoring in the Kyren Wilson and Si Jiahui affair with a break of 55 in their opening frame representing the lowest in an 11-frame masterclass of potting.
Si’s runs of 55, 124, 129, 95, and 127 were countered by Wilson’s 120, 82, 114, 114, 83, and 97 as the latter prevailed in a 6-5 decider.
Had Wilson not missed the last black in the final frame – where he attempted a no-look pot to entertain the crowd – the record of six combined century breaks in a best-of-11 fixture would have been broken.
World number one Judd Trump was equally in a scoring mood, meanwhile, as the reigning Shanghai Masters champion thumped Neil Robertson 6-2.
Trump, who won the title for the first time 12 months ago, made breaks of 127, 125, 103, 68, 68, and 64 to see off the Australian and set up a quarter-final bout with Selby.
On Wednesday, there will be plenty of excitement as world champion Zhao Xintong and five-time Shanghai Masters winner Ronnie O’Sullivan enter the fray.
Zhao faces Chris Wakelin while the Rocket launches his 2025/26 snooker season against Barry Hawkins.
Before that, the other two round-of-16 clashes will see Mark Williams encounter Ali Carter and John Higgins entertain Xiao Guodong.
Shanghai Masters draw
Round of 24 (bo11)
Neil Robertson 6-2 Pang Junxu
Shaun Murphy 6-0 Han Fuyuan
Xiao Guodong 6-3 Lei Peifan
Ali Carter 6-1 Qiu Lei
Si Jiahui 6-4 Wang Xinbo
Barry Hawkins 6-4 Wu Yize
Zhang Anda 6-5 Yuan Sijun
Chris Wakelin 6-3 Zhou Jinhao
Round of 16 (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-2 Neil Robertson
Mark Selby 6-0 Shaun Murphy
John Higgins vs Xiao Guodong
Wednesday, July 30th – 7am
Mark Williams vs Ali Carter
Wednesday, July 30th – 7am
Kyren Wilson 6-5 Si Jiahui
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Barry Hawkins
Wednesday, July 30th – 12:30pm
Ding Junhui 6-5 Zhang Anda
Zhao Xintong vs Chris Wakelin
Wednesday, July 30th – 12:30pm
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Judd Trump vs Mark Selby
Thursday, July 31st – 7am
Higgins/Xiao vs Williams/Carter
Thursday, July 31st – 7am
Kyren Wilson vs O’Sullivan/Hawkins
Thursday, July 31st – 12:30pm
Ding Junhui vs Zhao/Wakelin
Thursday, July 31st – 12:30pm
The semi-finals (bo19) will be played on Friday, August 1st and Saturday, August 2nd. Schedule TBC.
The final (bo21) will be played on Sunday, August 3rd at 7am and 12:30pm.
All times are in UTC+1 (BST)
Featured photo credit: WST
The century record, during its period as an invitational event, will be obliterated this year.
Neil Robertson has been of a number of snooker folk to observe the pockets playing more generously in the Chinese events.