Shaun Murphy Beats John Higgins 17-15 to Advance to World Snooker Championship Final

Shaun Murphy defeated John Higgins 17-15 in the World Championship semi-final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, advancing to his fifth World Championship final. Murphy, the world number eight, overcame a 13-11 overnight deficit and reeled off four consecutive frames from 15-13 down to secure the win.

He opened the final session with breaks of 132 and 127, followed by a third century break and a 78 break that helped seal his victory.

The match, a best-of-33 encounter, resumed with Murphy trailing. Higgins, a four-time world champion who turns 51 later this month, won the 27th frame scrappily and made an 88 break to briefly restore a two-frame lead. In the 31st frame, Murphy won after misses by both players, and in the nerve-shredding 32nd frame, Higgins broke down on 50 while Murphy missed a red with the rest before clinching the frame.

Murphy won his first World Championship title 21 years ago in 2005 and has finished as runner-up in three previous finals, including a 18-9 loss to Higgins in the 2009 final. 'I am over the moon. I am exhausted.

I was in a match with John, four sessions, a world semi-final, it does not get much more difficult than that,' Murphy said. He added: 'I knew I needed a good start and two centuries off the bat was good. Murphy continued: 'I knew I had to go to the well again.

I knew I had done it once and could do it again. John Parrott, the 1991 world champion, stated: 'What character Shaun Murphy has shown. We quite rightly always talk about John Higgins' character - Shaun has shown plenty in that match.

I think of the two players John will be fairly honest about it and say Shaun probably hit the ball better. A mobile phone disrupted play 15 minutes into the afternoon session during the 25th frame, with Murphy at 70-0 after potting the black. Referee Tatiana Woollaston paused proceedings and addressed the audience, stating: 'Please, can everyone check their phones and switch them off and put them on silent.

The crowd applauded the warning, which came less than 24 hours after complaints about audience behavior during the tournament's longest frame. Following the interruption, Murphy compiled a break of 132 to close the gap to 13-12 and then made a 127 break to draw level. Higgins moved two frames clear with five frames remaining.

On Friday, a spectator shouted encouragement for Higgins as Murphy prepared a break shot. Dennis Taylor stated: 'What are they shouting about? ' In the other semi-final, Wu Yize and Mark Allen are level at 11-11 after the third session of their best-of-33 match.

The pair resumed at 7-7 on Saturday, with Wu, 22 years old, making breaks of 142, 76, 121, and 140—his third century of the day. Allen, 40 years old, responded with breaks of 56, 85, and 99. The final session of the Wu Yize versus Mark Allen semi-final is scheduled for 19:00 BST on Saturday.

On Friday, their match featured a frame lasting nearly two hours with 75 safety shots, which Wu won. Steve Davis stated: 'In a nutshell that frame is an embarrassment to snooker. Stephen Hendry and John Parrott suggested referee Marcel Eckhart should have called for a re-rack at least twenty minutes sooner.

Eckhart consulted with tournament officials and encouraged both players to adopt more attacking approaches. The article detailing these events was published on 2 May 2026 at 13:21 BST.