Snooker: Murphy survives Greene's fightback

Neil Goulding
Friday 23 April 2010 00:00 BST
Comments
(PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The former world champion Shaun Murphy survived a real scare to keep his World Championship hopes alive in Sheffield yesterday.

Murphy, a Crucible winner in 2005, was fancied to cruise to victory against Gerard Greene having established a commanding 8-1 overnight lead. But the world No 3 struggled to get over the winning line in the pair's best-of-19 frame contest as Greene, a qualifier from Kent, impressed by winning five frames on the bounce to heap on the pressure. Victory, though, was eventually assured when Murphy held his nerve to compile a fine break of 87 to clinch a 10-7 victory.

"To be fair to Gerard he didn't let me win easy," said Murphy, who now faces current UK champion Ding Junhui in the next round. "At no time did I think I was going to lose the match because the gremlins weren't that bad, but it would have been so nice to have won 10-1. I never started to question my own ability, I've practised very hard since I was eight years old and I know that I can rely on my games when it matters."

Mark Allen became the first player to make 146 at the Crucible as he moved 5-3 up on Mark Davis. Allen had a great chance of a 147 in the sixth frame but after six reds he lost position by a fraction and had to take pink rather than black. But, as if to prove a point to himself, he went after the 146 and brilliantly reached his target. He is now the front-runner for the highest break prize, which pays out £10,000.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in