Shaun Murphy produced a superb display to beat Zhao Xintong 13-10 in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Snooker Championship.
Zhao, the defending champion and pre-tournament favourite, fell victim to the infamous Curse of the Crucible in Sheffield after a dominant final session from Murphy.
The latter began the contest slowly but grew in confidence as the match progressed to set up a last-four showdown against either Neil Robertson or John Higgins.
When Zhao settled the quicker of the two and surged into a 3-0 lead, a runaway scoreline for the Chinese competitor briefly looked to be on the cards.
Given his form coming into the tournament – three ranking titles already in 2026 – it felt like a continuation of what had been seen from the world number four all year.
But the 29 year-old missed his chance to stamp his authority on the tie, and he opened the door for Murphy who didn’t need a second invitation.
The eighth seed punished the lapse with five frames on the spin to finish the opening session 5-3 in front, completely shifting the momentum in his favour.
The second session subsequently lived up to expectations, with both players producing a high standard and trading heavy scoring visits.
Murphy maintained his buffer until the very end, when Zhao fought back with a 117 century break in the 15th frame and then won the 16th as well to leave the scores even in tantalising fashion at 8-8.
At that point, a barnstorming finale was in store and it genuinely felt like it could go either way.
Instead, Murphy came out for the final session and blew his esteemed opponent away with a barrage of attacking snooker.
The reigning British Open champion was clinical from distance and ruthless among the balls, reeling off breaks of 96, 80, and 70 in a brilliant burst that carried him into a commanding 12-9 lead.
It left Zhao with a mountain to climb, and to his credit he didn’t fold.
The Cyclone responded to close the gap to 12-10 with a terrific 81 and briefly threatened to make things interesting again.
But Murphy remained composed and wrapped up the victory in the next frame with a break of 69, duly booking his place in the semi-finals.
“I knew I had to be somewhere near my best, and I think I was,” Murphy said on the BBC. “I’m delighted with how I played.”
For Zhao, it’s a disappointing end to what had been shaping up to be a potentially historic title defence. The Curse of the Crucible strikes again.
Murphy, meanwhile, continues his bid in Sheffield having come so close to exiting in the first round when he survived a deciding-frame thriller against Fan Zhengyi.
The 43 year-old returns to the single table setup for the first time since 2021, and he will be a hard player to stop in this kind of form as he chases that second world crown.
Featured photo credit: WST
The Curse is alive and well! You read it here first…..
My belief in it is unshaken!
The odds were excellent for one player from England to make the semifinals.