Shaun Murphy survives scare to progress in Northern Ireland Open
Shaun Murphy survived a scare as he recovered from 3-1 down to scrape past Allan Taylor and book his place in the Northern Ireland Open last 32 on Tuesday.
The Magician has generally struggled in this event, suffering four first-round defeats in the five previous editions.
Another early exit at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast looked to be on the cards when he trailed 3-1 against world number 75 Taylor, who hit a top break of 75 along the way.
However, the 2005 World champion dug deep with a run of 77 to stay alive, before controlling the next two frames to scrape over the line.
Stephen Maguire was also taken to a deciding frame by Hammad Miah, who recovered from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.
But the world number nine produced a wonderful 63 clearance from 53-0 down to snatch victory on the final pink.
There were no such problems for reigning champion Judd Trump, who scored 333 unanswered points in a 4-0 rout of the helpless Gao Yang.
The three-time winner hit breaks of 100, 60, 54 and 52 as he recorded his 23rd consecutive victory at this tournament.
UK champion Neil Robertson had a top break of 102 in his 4-0 win over Xu Si, while a brilliant run of 127 was the highlight as Championship League winner David Gilbert reeled off four frames without reply against David Grace.
Stuart Bingham and Jack Lisowski hit breaks of 132 and 106 respectively in 4-2 successes over Sam Craigie and Fan Zhengyi, while home favourite Mark Allen overcame Peter Devlin by the same scoreline.
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Northern Ireland Open 2021 Results
Tuesday October 12
Last 64
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Sam Craigie
David Grace 0-2 David Gilbert
Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Sunny Akani
Peter Devlin 2-4 Mark Allen
Jackson Page 4-3 Noppon Saengkham
Judd Trump 4-0 Gao Yang
Martin O’Donnell 3-4 Ricky Walden
Louis Heathcote 4-3 Lee Walker
Simon Lichtenberg 3-4 Matthew Stevens
Hammad Miah 3-4 Stephen Maguire
Xu Si 0-4 Neil Robertson
Shaun Murphy 4-3 Allan Taylor
Fan Zhengyi 2-4 Jack Lisowski
Martin Gould 2-4 Jak Jones