Shaun Murphy delivered one of the most dominant performances of his career as he crushed defending champion Kyren Wilson 5–0 to book a place in the Xi’an Grand Prix quarter-finals. The 43-year-old Englishman was at his brilliant best, compiling three century breaks including a top run of 141 in a stunning whitewash victory over the world number two.
Wilson, the reigning world champion, endured a nightmare session, failing to pot a single ball throughout the entire match. His only six points came from a foul by Murphy, who inadvertently struck the pink while snookered. Murphy’s relentless scoring spree totalled an incredible 533 points without reply a statistic that underlined the gulf in class on the day.
Reflecting on his performance, the 2005 world champion was full of pride. “That’s pretty much as good as I’ve ever played,” Murphy said. “It’s one of the best best-of-nine matches I’ve ever been part of. You play so many matches throughout your life, and every now and then, everything just comes together like that.”
Murphy will next face China’s Ding Junhui in what promises to be a blockbuster quarter-final clash.
Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his strong return to competitive action with a 5–2 victory over Jak Jones. The seven-time world champion produced two century breaks, including a superb 135 in the second frame, and sealed the match with a composed 81.
Jones briefly threatened a comeback with a 140 break, but O’Sullivan’s class proved too much. The 49-year-old, a semi-finalist in last year’s Xi’an Grand Prix, remains on course to claim his first ranking title in nearly two years.
In other results, former world champion Mark Williams showed trademark resilience to edge past Barry Hawkins 5–4 after trailing 4–3, while Lyu Haotian defeated Stuart Bingham 5–3 to reach the last eight.
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