John Higgins v Shaun Murphy live stream | World Snooker Championship 2026 Semi-Final preview

John Higgins and Shaun Murphy go head to head in a mouth-watering battle of the former Crucible kings for a place in the 2026 World Snooker Championship final.

This year’s first semi-final in Sheffield sees two of the game’s gentlemen and finest ambassadors do battle over the best of 33 frames, while seeking a return to snooker’s biggest match.

For Higgins, it would be a record-equalling ninth Crucible final – and first in seven years – while it would be Murphy’s fifth five years after his last.

Between them, they have lifted the trophy five times, while they famously contested the 2009 showpiece, in which Higgins ran out a commanding 18-9 winner.

The Wizard is gearing up for his 12th Crucible semi-final, and looking to match Stephen Hendry’s record tally of runs to the final.

So far, it has been a fortnight of trademark fightbacks from Higgins, who overturned a 5-4 deficit to beat two-time runner-up Ali Carter 10-7 in the opening round.

He then trailed 9-4 during his second-round epic with Ronnie O’Sullivan, but won nine of the last 12 frames to stun the Rocket in a decider.

The four-time World champion also trailed 9-6 during his hard-fought quarter-final against 2010 victor Neil Robertson, only to take seven of the next eight frames and run out a 13-10 winner.

The oldest semi-finalist since Ray Reardon back in 1985, the 51-year-old now looks to become the oldest ever Crucible finalist by taking down a third successive fellow World champion, though Murphy did prevail 6-5 in their most recent showdown at this season’s UK Championship.

The Magician is fresh from inflicting the notorious Crucible Curse by dethroning reigning champion Zhao Xintong with an impressive 13-10 victory.

It has been quite a turnaround for Murphy, who survived a first-round scare against Fan Zhengyi with a 50 clearance to prevail 10-9 on the final pink.

Nevertheless, he built on that momentum with a dominant 13-3 rout of Xiao Guodong with a session to spare, and he is now just two more wins away from joining the likes of Higgins as a multiple Crucible king.

Coincidentally, he beat the Scotsman 13-9 in the second round on the way to his fairytale triumph in 2005, and will hope that serves as a positive omen for him just over two decades on.

Whoever prevails from this epic best of 33 clash will be able to fall back on that previous knowhow when it comes to getting the job done in Sheffield, with Mark Allen or Wu Yize awaiting them in the final.

The match breaks off at 1pm BST on Thursday with the opening eight frames, continuing with a further eight from 10am and 7pm on Friday, before playing to a conclusion at 2.30pm on Saturday.

How to watch John Higgins v Shaun Murphy live stream

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