England’s Shaun Murphy ousts 2012 Snooker Shootout champ Barry Hawkins: 2012 German Masters, Round 1
Former World Snooker Champion, England’s Shaun Murphy had a tussling encounter against the 2012 Snooker Shootout winner, compatriot Barry Hawkins in the initial round of 2012 German Masters at Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany. Murphy came back into the game
when he was 4-3 down to finish the match by beating Hawkins with the score line of 5-4.
A stunning display of snooker skills from Dartford potter Hawkins dragged the game into the decider frame. Hawkins played impressively at the baize in the first session of the match to unsettle his opponent at 4-3 down but was not able to finish the contest
in his favour. Murphy, on the other hand, was impressive in the second session of the match with an impressive game play.
The Hawk grabbed an early lead of 0-1 after he clinched the first scrappy frame with a superb knock of 113 points. The World Number Six Murphy snatched the match lead at 2-1 after he won back-to-back frames hitting two cracking knocks of 77 and 93. The 32-year-old
Hawkins also claimed the next two frames to regain the overall lead at 3-2.
Despite tumbling one frame down in the match, The Magician did not lose his focus and bounced back with a sixth frame victory to pull level at 3-3. At the end of the seventh frame, Murphy was trailing Hawkins at 3-4 and was at the brink to lose the match
but the Englishman showed a great deal of resilience and took the encounter with two straight frame wins.
After a stunning win in his opening match, Murphy said, “It was always going to be a tough match, Barry played like a man with a lot of confidence. We both had chances in the last and I was lucky that he got a massive kick on the red to the middle.”
The Whiston Warrior added, “I think I'm due a title as I've been putting a lot of effort in and you usually get out what you put in. I thought it would pay off at the Masters but I missed out in the final.”
Murphy has successfully surged into the second round of the tournament where he will be meeting compatriot Ricky Walden for a quarter-final berth.
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