Superb Murphy beats Xiao with session to spare

Shaun Murphy has won one World Championship final, lost in three more, gone out in the semi-finals once and been beaten in the quarter-finals on four occasions

>Shaun Murphy produced a superb performance to thrash China's Xiao Guodong 13-3 and become the first player into the 2026 World Championship quarter-finals.

>Murphy, a champion at the Crucible in 2005 and runner-up in 2009, 2015 and 2021, led 6-2 overnight against China's world number nine Xiao Guodong, before winning seven of the eight frames in Friday's first session.

>It meant the 43-year-old eighth seed won his match with a session to spare.

>As a result, Friday's evening play will feature just the second instalment of the match between Barry Hawkins and Mark Williams, with the divider raised so the whole arena can watch.

>Murphy made breaks of 93, 66, 103, 69, 115 and 103 in Friday's session to set up a last-eight tie against the winner of the all-Chinese match between reigning world champion Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui, with the quarter-final beginning on Tuesday and finishing on Wednesday.

>"I'm really pleased with how I played. I'm delighted," said Murphy. "It does not happen often that you win with a session to spare, because everyone is so good.

>"I would not say I'm desperate to win another World Championship, but it is close.

>"It's 21 years since that clueless 22-year-old came here and nicked the trophy from everyone. Since then I've been trying my hardest to get the trophy again. It's not been through the lack of trying."

>Murphy last reached the quarter-final stage in 2021, when we went on to the final and lost to Mark Selby, and said he still feels he can improve.

>"I'm loving the game, loving practice and still think I can get better," said Murphy. The best days are still ahead of me."

>Watch: World Snooker Championship - Barry Hawkins leads Mark Williams

>Will Zhao v Ding draw the biggest TV audience in snooker history?

>Three-time winner Mark Williams reached the final last year and would become the oldest world champion if, at 51, he could win the tournament for a fourth time.

>His last-16 opponent Barry Hawkins took the opening frame of their match with a break of 127, and the pair alternated frames with Williams making a 124 in frame four and 65 in frame six.

>The Welshman moved ahead for the first time by taking the seventh frame, only for Hawkins to win the last of the session, helped by a run of 73, to draw level at 4-4.

>Their match resumed at 19:00 BST on Friday and will be played to a finish on Saturday evening.

>The eagerly-awaited match between China's first ranking event winner Ding Junhui and its first world champion Zhao Xintong is also level at 4-4.

>In a tie which could become the most-watched match in snooker history because of its appeal to the Chinese audience, the pair alternated the opening five frames, with Xhao's break of 116 in frame four the highlight.

>Zhao won the sixth and seventh frames, but Ding sneaked the eighth on the black, by a scoreline of 62-61 to leave it level before the second session on Saturday afternoon (14:30 BST).

>The tie between 2024 winner Kyren Wilson and former world number one Mark Allen is set for a thrilling finish on Saturday morning (10:00 BST).

>Northern Ireland's Allen had been 5-0 ahead on Thursday, before Wilson won the final three frames of the session.

>The Englishman maintained his form by winning three in a row, following breaks of 71, 52, 112 to lead 6-5, but an excellent match swung again, with Allen winning four of the last five frames to hold a 9-7 advantage.

>The highlight was a break of 140 from Allen in frame 15, the second time he has made that score in this year's Crucible event.

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