Whitewash wins for top seeds on day two of the Northern Ireland Open

Triple Crown winner Murphy is arguably the best cueist on the planet right now. The 43-year-old Englishman won the British Open title in Cheltenham last month and immediately backed that up with a run to the final of the Xi'an Grand Prix in China were he was denied back-to-back trophies by a record-breaking Mark Williams.

‘The Magician’ compiled a break of 115 as he dismissed former world seniors champion Lilley who was only allowed to score 26 points throughout the entire tie.

Murphy - who has now won 14 of his last 15 matches on the professional circuit - has never been to the last four of the Northern Ireland Open before, although he does have three quarter-final finishes to his name, including at last year’s edition.

Next up for Murphy will be Elliot Slessor after the world number 23 ousted former European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi, 4-3.

A two-time semi-finalist at the Waterfront (2017, 2024), Slessor registered runs of 60, 67 and 86 as he built a 3-1 lead before Fan forced a decider with an effort of 119. However, Slessor got the job done in the seventh and final frame courtesy of an 87.

The Hawk stays on course in Belfast

Barry Hawkins reached the inaugural final of the Northern Ireland Open in 2016 when it was held at the Titanic Belfast, and the world number 13 is aiming for another deep run this week in the capital city after a comfortable 4-0 win over Zak Surety on Monday afternoon.

The four-time ranking event winner posted breaks of 62, 54 and 74 as he progressed in the £550,400 tournament.

Aaron Hill will provide Hawkins’ next assignment as the Republic of Ireland’s number one ranked player put in arguably the performance of the round, so far, as he eliminated Lei Peifan, 4-1.

Scottish Open champion Lei deposited the opener before 23-year-old Hill went on a four-frame burst with breaks of 84, 109, 54 and 134.

The Cork cueist is enjoying his best season on the sport’s top flight having reached the quarter-finals of the English Open, and the last 16 at the Wuhan Open and Xi’an Grand Prix. ‘The Breeze’ has also completed his first two maximum 147 breaks in professional competition during this term.

Despite losses for Fan and Lei, six Chinese players are already through to the round of 32, including Zhou Yuelong and Yuan Sijun.

Zhou, runner-up in this event in 2022, narrowly missed out on his maiden ranking event crown a few weeks ago when he was pipped by Mark Allen in the final of the English Open, the first Home Nations Series stop of the season.

The 27-year-old crafted breaks of 86 and 67 as he got past Welsh youngster Dylan Emery, 4-2.

Yuan was impressive as he racked up contributions of 99, 61, 102 and 74 in defeating recent Xi'an Grand Prix semi-finalist Daniel Wells, 4-1.

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