Marvellous Murphy sweeps Selby aside to reach British Open final
Murphy enjoyed a commanding victory over Selby (Credit: Action Plus Sports Images)
Shaun Murphy booked his place in the British Open final after a commanding 6-1 rout of good friend Mark Selby on Saturday.
The Magician progressed to his first ranking showpiece in just over two years, and will do battle with Anthony McGill for the Clive Everton trophy on Sunday.
Murphy, who recently dropped out of the world’s top 16, has enjoyed a return to form at The Centaur in Cheltenham this week, beating the likes of Neil Robertson and Judd Trump on route to the last four.
The 2005 World champion then claimed the scalp of another fellow Crucible king in four-time winner Selby, hitting top breaks of 116 and 93 along the way.
“It’s the gala match. These are the matches you practise for, that’s what it’s all about; [playing] in semi-finals against one of the legends, and a great mate,” he told ITV Sport. “You’ve got to put that to one side and go to war, that’s probably the hardest bit. He’s given me a number of good hidings over the years, so I’m happy to take that one.
“For whatever reason, it’s just come together this week. I’ve put an awful lot of practice in since the Masters. We’ve not hard our rewards through the season so far, but a chance tomorrow to take some silverware home.”
Despite seeing a 61-0 lead reduced to just 14 points, Murphy eventually won the safely battle on the green to take the opening frame.
He then overturned a 50-0 deficit to win the second on the blue, before a brilliant break of 116 put him 3-0 to the good.
Selby had inflicted a 6-0 whitewash on the Magician when they met at the Shanghai Masters at the start of the season, and the Jester ensured there would be no repeat scoreline with a 123 getting his first frame on the board.
The reigning British Open champion was aiming to become the first player in history to successfully defend the title. However, his hopes took another hit when he broke down on 54 in frame five, and Murphy recovered to steal on the pink.
Selby threatened to snatch the sixth frame from needing two snookers but, despite getting them, he missed the yellow and the Magician eventually moved to the brink of victory, which he secured with a break of 93.
“I thought Shaun played great from start to finish,” the 2024 champion added. “As well as he played, there were a couple of 50-50 frames that I could’ve won, and could’ve made a difference. I just wasn’t good enough today to compete with Shaun.”
Standing in the way of Murphy will be McGill, who reeled off the last four frames from 3-2 down to defeat compatriot John Higgins earlier on Saturday.
Despite winning a close opening frame on the colours and a break of 99, the two-time ranking event winner trailed 3-2 after Higgins had a top run of 111.
The four-time British Open winner was aiming to equal Steve Davis’ record of five titles this week, but he was largely a spectator for the final four frames.
Indeed, McGill hit breaks of 50, 57, 104 and 93 to progress to his first ranking final since losing to Higgins in the 2017 Indian Open showpiece.
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