Shaun Murphy battled past Fan Zhengyi and even a section of the Crucible crowd to reach the last 16 of the 2026 World Snooker Championship in dramatic circumstances on Tuesday.
The Magician prevailed from a titanic tussle which marked the first fixture of this year’s tournament that required a deciding frame.
Murphy looked on course to become the first top 16 contender to exit the event, only to produce a brilliant last-gasp clearance of 50 to pinch it at the end.
There was hardly anything separating the pair throughout the entire showdown, so it seemed appropriate for it to conclude on the final pink.
“What a match,” Shaun Murphy told the World Snooker Tour. “I got the first chance in the decider and couldn’t control the cue ball.”
“I got another chance and thought I was desperately unlucky when I played the brown into the pack.
“I’ve got John Parrott in my ear, saying ‘you only want one chance in a decider,’ and I’d had two.
“So I was thinking it’s not going to be my night. He had me in bits, snookered with four reds on. A few shots later, he is taking that red to the middle pocket.
“He probably didn’t think – and neither did I – that I was going to clear up from there, where the balls were. A couple of miracle shots later and somehow I’m in the next round.
“I’m not sure what my break was at the end, but it’s the best break I’ve ever made at the Crucible considering the situation.
“When you zoom out and take a look at your season or career as a whole, you go ‘that moment there, that was really special.’
“Regardless of what happens for the rest of the tournament, that [break] was special.”
Murphy celebrated enthusiastically after sinking the final balls, offering a thoroughly entertained crowd plenty of his trademark fist pumps.
But the 2005 world champion hadn’t been particularly happy after his first session concluded and took to social media to air his disdain towards mouthy fans inside the arena.
With the Crucible Theatre representing one of the most intimate venues on the circuit – especially during the two-table setup – it is hardly surprising that comments from supporters sitting nearby the table can sometimes be heard.
Some of those have proven to be notably unkind, with Murphy calling out the behaviour of one fan who audibly criticised one of his misses.
“Just a friendly reminder…,” Murphy wrote on Facebook. “If you’re sat on the front row in the Crucible and I play a shot that may not work for a particular reason, it’s probably best not to say ‘sh*t shot’ out loud.”
“I’ve got ears. I missed my next shot as I was contemplating which end of my cue to nut him with.”
Regardless, the 43 year-old is safely through to the next round where he will face reigning Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong.
World number one Judd Trump, meanwhile, also progressed to the last 16 courtesy of a 10-5 defeat of Gary Wilson.
The latter appeared to be threatening an upset when he stormed 4-1 in front, but Trump fought back to take a 5-4 lead into the second session, which he then dominated.
The victory brings an end to Zhao Xintong’s slim aspirations of finishing the season as snooker’s newest world number one.
Elsewhere, Wu Yize won a game at the Crucible for the first time with a 10-2 destruction of Lei Peifan.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Chris Wakelin reached their halfway points with leads, albeit of contrasting nature, with the Rocket 7-2 up on He Guoqiang and Scottish Open champion Wakelin 5-4 ahead of Liam Pullen.
Those matches will reach their climaxes on Wednesday, while day six will also see the introduction of the remaining competitors in the 2026 World Snooker Championship draw.
Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, and Si Jiahui will each finally enter the fray against Jak Jones, Pang Junxu, and Hossein Vafaei respectively.
Featured photo credit: WST
Watching it live, after the miss by Fan Zhengyi, it was clear this was a chance for Murphy, although it did not look easy — it was not a nice table — in the same way, it was also clear that if Murphy decided to go for it (rather than play a safety) and missed, Fan Zhengyi would have another chance, and he potted some nice balls to take the lead in the decider.
Murphy went for it, held his nerve under real pressure, made some difficult shots — he can be very proud of that performance.
That said, while the match was obviously very close (10-9), to me Murphy was the better player overall (in total points he heavily outscored Fan Zhengyi), and in that sense it would have been a shame had he not gone through.
As was said on the broadcast, so far no seeds have lost.