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Shaun Murphy 'can't believe' 147 after reaching Masters snooker final in style with win over Mark Allen
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Published 18/01/2025 at 17:59 GMT
Shaun Murphy scored just the sixth maximum break at the Masters as he secured an impressive 6-3 win over Mark Allen in their semi-final on Saturday at Alexandra Palace. Speaking after his win, he said he would "give it everything" in Sunday's final. Murphy will play the winner of Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson, who play their semi-final on Saturday evening - live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Watch Murphy's magnificent Masters maximum in full
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Shaun Murphy reached his third Masters final with a 6-3 win over Mark Allen, hitting a maximum break on his way to victory.
Allen took a 2-0 lead as Murphy struggled for form in the early stages. In the first frame, Allen claimed it 70-0, and then won the second by a 90-6 margin.
Murphy then mounted a remarkable comeback, impressing in each of the next four frames.
He halved the deficit by winning the third frame 66-0, then struck 83 to level the scoreline, before rattling in a 54 to battle to a 79-12 frame win to nudge ahead for the first time in the semi-final.
Murphy then produced perhaps the moment of the tournament so far as he hit just the sixth maximum break in Masters history, bringing applause from around Alexandra Palace.
The Englishman looked in ominous form, but Allen was able to hold his nerve, and hold off his opponent. At 30-0 down, the situation looked difficult, only for Allen to knock in 54, negotiating a difficult brown along the way.
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'Where's he come from?' - Murphy attacked by Ally Pally wasp
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A 54 break from Allen then allowed him to move the score to 4-3, and the two struggled to put a meaningful break together in the early stages of the following frame.
At 19-1 down, Allen missed a red to the bottom-left pocket, giving Murphy a chance to build a sizeable break with some helpfully spread reds. Although he failed to land another century with the table opening up for him, a break of 72 was enough to build a two-frame advantage.
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A surprising miss for Allen put Murphy back in in the following frame, trailing by 36. He began his break carefully but there were several reds which needed to be developed if he wanted to score heavily. He got little reward as he ran into a bunch near the pink spot, and had to stop at 36-20 behind before playing the white high up the table and returning control to Allen.
With Allen 47-21 up, the two exchanged safeties, and the frame staggered on until Murphy found an exceptional plant, keeping the remaining red in play as he did so, only to miss a relatively straightforward long yellow.Â
Murphy continued to scrap and sunk an excellent 41, and followed it up with the brown to move four behind, needing the remaining three balls for victory. The blue was glanced to the middle to tee up a routine pink to the top right, before alighting on the black to finish 63-49 ahead.
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'I can't believe it' - Murphy 'shocked' by 147 magic in Masters semi-final win
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Speaking after his win, Murphy said: "I can’t believe it, I’m as surprised as you are. It was just an incredible moment, one of the best moments of my snooker career. I had a great opportunity the other day. I totally messed it up. I have to say I had great support from the crowd all afternoon.
"I must pay tribute to Mark, he played really well. He made it so hard, so tough. I had a little bit of luck at the right time. I’m absolutely delighted."
He continued: "It would be right up there, it’s been so long that I’ve been in this position. I’m going to try with every ounce I’ve got left, I’m going to give it everything."
Murphy will play the winner of Judd Trump v Kyren Wilson, with the second semi-final set for Saturday evening.
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