Shaun Murphy explains why he has found old magic at Shenzhen Open after thumping win over Hossein Vafaei - 'People don't understand'
By Desmond Kane
Updated 30/09/2026 at 12:21 GMT+1
Shaun Murphy looks to be finding peak form at the Shenzhen Open after firing his third century in two days to reach the last 16 with a heavy-hitting 5-1 win over Hossein Vafaei in the last 32 on Wednesday morning.
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After producing breaks of 111, 96, 94, 73 and 50 in a similar one-sided victory over Marco Fu on Tuesday, the former world champion was back in his groove a day later against the potting game's 'Prince of Persia'.
Despite watching Vafaei open with a 70 break, Murphy quickly assumed control as knocks of 132, 76, 64, 78 and 112 saw him cruise through to a last-16 meeting with Barry Hawkins on Elliot Slessor on Thursday, live with TNT Sports on HBO Max.
'The Magician' is hoping to go one better than last year in his quest for the £177,000 first prize when he lost the Xi'an Grand Prix final, which has been moved to Shenzhen this season, 10-3 to an inspired Mark Williams.
Murphy looks to be fully recovered from his agonising 18-17 defeat to Wu Yize in the world final in May that denied him the chance to become only the 10th multiple Crucible winner of the modern era.
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"It's nice to know that your game's there, you know," said the world No. 7.
"I've done a lot of work on my game at home between events. People don't see that.
"People don't understand and see what we're trying to do, how we're trying to work the conditions out.
"Obviously, the tables play totally different here in Shenzhen than they do up in the north of China, maybe in Beijing.
"They also play totally different to the ones in the UK.
"So, I know it looks the same on TV. I know when everyone watches, they see a snooker table, they think it's the same. But they're not.
"And they all perform slightly differently. It's up to us as the experts to try and work out how that ball's working, how it's spinning.
"And if you can control that, if you can adapt to it, then you can play good snooker."
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Elsewhere in the round of 32 on Wednesday morning, there was a 5-2 win for Kyren Wilson against David Gilbert as the Masters champion reeled off the final four frames to progress.
While Stephen Maguire ended world No. 75 David Grace's hopes of another giant-killing act with a 5-1 win a day after the Bradford player had stunned John Higgins with a 5-4 victory.
Maguire will face Mark Selby on Thursday for a quarter-final spot after the China Open champion eased past Jackson Page 5-1 with three brilliant centuries, while Wilson takes on Michael Holt, who whitewashed World Open winner Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-0.
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