Shaun Murphy was in a joyous mood after breaking a 12-year snooker record for unanswered points at the 2026 China Open on Sunday.
The Magician produced a devastating display of heavy scoring to thrash Matthew Selt 6-0 in the first round in Taiyuan.
Murphy compiled breaks of 139, 133, 113, 109, 61, and 55 as he powered past his helpless opponent to reach the last 16.
In doing so, the World Championship runner-up scored an incredible 607 points without reply to break the world record of 556 that was set by Ronnie O’Sullivan at the 2014 Masters.
It was also the second time in his career that he constructed four consecutive century breaks in a single match.
“It’s like a cricket score, isn’t it?” Murphy joked when speaking to the World Snooker Tour. “Do you know, I’ve had golf scores that have been closer to that?”
“I can’t believe it, I’m over the moon. It wasn’t until you told me when I came off the table that I knew – I knew I was close.
“At the interval, I didn’t want to go looking at any sites or anything. I didn’t want to go looking for it.
“As a sportsperson, when you do find yourself in that bubble and in that flow, you just want to stay in it.
“Ideally, I wouldn’t have had the interval. We would have just carried on. It was a delight to play for a great crowd out there – we had a good time.
“They turned out in their numbers, and we put up a good show. Yeah, I’m thrilled.
“I haven’t set many records throughout my career, and I’m sure at some stage someone will come along and beat that one.
“But to be a part of snooker history in that way is a great thrill.”
It could have been even better for Murphy, whose 113 contribution in the penultimate frame ended on the 15th black on a maximum break attempt.
However, the Englishman safely progressed to the second round where he will encounter China’s Xiao Guodong.
Xiao came from a frame behind to beat Anthony McGill 6-3, reeling off the last four frames to deny the Scot.
Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan enjoyed a routine outing to beat Jackson Page 6-2 and secure his first victory in a ranking event this season.
The Rocket showed promising form, making breaks of 100, 96, 93, 70, and 64 in overturning an early two-frame deficit to the Welshman.
There was a big shock, though, with world number one and recent Shanghai Masters champion bowing out in a 6-3 reverse to Noppon Saengkham.
With a huge amount of points coming off his rolling two-year tally this month, Trump’s position at the top of the world rankings is likely to be surrendered in the coming weeks.
Among those hoping to usurp Trump is Neil Robertson, who gets his 2026 China Open campaign under way on Monday against Chang Bingyu.
Robertson is technically the defending champion of this tournament having won the last China Open that was staged back in 2019.
Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, and Si Jiahui are also in action on day three against Aaron Hill, Pang Junxu, and Jiang Jun respectively.
Featured photo credit: WST
Hi David if you oblige me I would be grateful. In today’s match with Kyren Wilson, in the sixth frame he missed a snooker and somehow went on to play again from the same spot where he the cue landed. I thought the cue ball would go back or Aaron Hill would take the next shot from where the white ball ended up. Kyren went on to pot the next couple of balls.
Also, in the decider with Yao Pengcheng, he landed a beautiful snooker on Wu Yize and when the escape did not hit any ball Yao Pengcheng took a shot that pretty much costed him the match. Could he not have just asked for the ball to be re spotted?
Thank You
If you foul like that (Wilson game), your opponent has the option to make you play from the position where the cue ball landed – if he/she believes it to be a harder position to play from.
In the Yao match, yes he could have asked for the balls to be respotted. But he had the option to pot a red and win the match. He took the aggressive option but missed the red.
Thank you David, I definitely did not know about the player’s choice to play or not in those situations.
Cheers
Jackson Page could have easily been up 4 nil before the break. Throughout the match Jackson had plenty of good opportunities to win the match. He simply was not up for the game. He missed very simple shots over and over.
As the commentator said, O’Sullivan does not forgive opportunities given to him and that was the difference.
The best moment for me in the Shaun Murphy match was when Matt Selt did a fist pump facing the fans as he potted his first ball in the sixth frame. Congrats to Murphy on his record breaking performance. The big question is, can he be consistent enough to win all his matches to win the tournament.
Judd Trump being knocked out so early in this important ranking tournament adds to the drama of who will be number 1 later this year.
Crash bang wallop from the magician and a thud from Judd.
Just in the news; China has evacuated a million people in the eastern region including Shanghai. The WST were lucky to have left after the Shanghai Open ended.
There natural disasters all around the world. My thoughts and prayers for those affected by the earthquakes in Columbia, typhoons in China, wildfires in France, Spain, Canada and the US. And also for those who are suffering from the extreme heat. If I missed someone forgive me.
Maybe just one more thing, for those snooker fans in western Europe that are like a zombie right now because of the China time difference.
Anyone know what Murphy’s pot success was in this exhibition?
Mark Allen and Neil Robertson are the only other players to compile four consecutive centuries on more than one occasion.
The likes of Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry have never made four centuries in a row.
Murphy’s resurgence over the last couple of years has been impressive; vis-a-vis consistently playing well, he has become one of the more reliable players on tour — I’m sure he’s now one of the players the others look for in the draw because no one wants to meet him in the early rounds.