Mark Selby beats Shaun Murphy 5-4; reaches semi-final: 2011 Shanghai Masters Tournament
The Jester from Leicester, Mark Selby, has reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters, as he defeated the Magician, Shaun Murphy, by a frame score 5-4 in a best-of-nine frames match being held at Shanghai Grand Stage in Shanghai, China.
It was a strong performance from Selby, who currently holds the 3rd spot in the world rankings, as he held his nerves to complete an excellent comeback from being down 4-2 in a thrilling match. For the current world number 5, Murphy, in the meanwhile it was a disappointing defeat.
Though the 29-year-old Murphy started well and stormed into a 1-3 lead prior to the mid-session interval break with runs of 70 and 85, he lost his momentum afterwards.
On resuming the match Selby took the fifth frame with a classy break of 70 to come within one frame at 2-3. Murphy did restore his one-frame lead at 4-2 with a carving 85 but Selby, who was left down by two frames with three to play, battled back and won three frames in a row. Selby fired in a modest break of 53 in the seventh frame before rolling in a 117 in the deciding frame to finish off the matter in style.
"Shaun played better than me for three quarters of the match and he probably should have won," said Selby, who is in position to take over from Mark Williams as the new World No 1. "The heat and humidity make it difficult to play good snooker, but I was really pleased with the break in the last frame."
Murphy said, "I had chances to win but I just didn't take them, and in the end Mark took the balls really well and deserved it. I hope he goes on to win it now.”
The 28-year-old, Mark Selby, will now play Mark King in the semi-finals. Let’s see if Selby can win this tournament as he is only two matches away from winning his career’s second ranking tournament.
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