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Shaun Murphy Defeats John Higgins 17-15 in World Snooker Championship Semi-Final
Shaun Murphy advanced to the final of the World Snooker Championship after beating four-time champion John Higgins 17-15 in a four-session semi-final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Murphy will face Wu Yize, who overcame Mark Allen in the other semi-final. Higgins, aged 50, discussed his potential retirement plans following the match.
May 3, 5:42 AM·3m read3 sources
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Shaun Murphy defeated John Higgins 17-15 in the semi-final of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, securing his place in the final against Wu Yize. The four-session match concluded with Murphy overcoming a 13-11 deficit from the end of Friday's play.
Higgins, a four-time world champion aged 50, had earlier beaten Ali Carter, Ronnie O'Sullivan, and Neil Robertson to reach the last four.
The semi-final resumed Friday evening at 8-8. Murphy opened with a break of 60 to take the lead for the first time since the seventh frame. Higgins responded with runs of 44 and 55, then won the next frame after laying a snooker on the brown.
Murphy leveled at the mid-session interval with a break of 82. The players traded frames afterward, with Higgins making a 63 and Murphy responding with a century break from Higgins's break-off shot. Higgins then pulled ahead with a run of 70 followed by a break of 101 to end the session at 13-11.
The final session began Saturday at 14:30 BST. Murphy mounted a comeback to win the match 17-15, advancing to face Wu Yize, who had defeated Mark Allen in the other semi-final. Wu Yize and Allen were level after the longest frame ever played at the Crucible during their encounter.
After the match, Higgins stated he anticipates stepping away from professional snooker once his ranking slips outside the top 16. He has held seeded status at every World Championship since 1996 and has competed at the highest level for three decades. "I don't think I can see myself having to qualify for big events," Higgins said.
Higgins elaborated on the challenges of qualifying for events like those in China, where he might compete alongside players such as Mark Selby or Neil Robertson in qualifiers while others are seeded directly. "I know we have to qualify for a lot of the Chinese events, but I think other players are doing that, so I could be on the next table and go to a Mark Selby or a Neil Robertson who's qualifying for the same event," he stated.
