World Snooker Championship 2024: Shaun Murphy strolls to the Crucible last 16

Shaun Murphy advanced to the last 16 of the 2024 World Snooker Championship following a comfortable 10-5 victory against qualifier Lyu Haotian at the Crucible Theatre.

The 2005 world champion made breaks of 53, 71, 90 and finished with a 111 during their opening session on Sunday afternoon as he held a 6-3 overnight lead in Sheffield.

Returning this morning, the world number eight extended his advantage further at 8-3 and looked like also adding frame 12 before unexpectedly missing a relatively routine yellow into a middle pocket. Chinese cueist Lyu - who defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan earlier this season en route to the last four of the Wuhan Open - produced a fine clearance, including a black along the baulk cushion, to keep his feint hopes alive. However, Murphy took the final frame before the mid-session interval with the help of a 55 to go one away from progression.

On resumption, Lyu potted a brilliant long red from his opponent’s break-off and went on to construct a run of 117 to prolong the tie. The effort was the 26-year-old’s 100th career century, becoming the 82nd player in professional competition history to achieve the feat.

The encounter was over in the next frame, though, as Triple Crown winner Murphy crafted a decisive 81.

Murphy will be delighted to get into the three-session portion of the Championship having lost first round in three of the last four years. The only time during that spell he didn’t go home early was in 2021 when he went all the way to the final where he lost 18-15 to Mark Selby.

It has been a largely disappointing 2023/24 campaign for the Englishman. It began on a high note as he won the season-opening Championship League ranking event - his third ranked title in the space of just five months - but since then he has failed to reach a single ranking event quarter-final.

Positioned 22nd on the one-year list heading into this event, Murphy missed out on qualifying for and defending the Players and Tour Championship titles that he collected in 2023.

‘The Magician’ can still finish the term in the best possible fashion by landing his second world title, 19 years on from his first when he was a 22-year-old qualifier. He will meet Stephen Maguire - a player he has history with - in round two from Friday afternoon.