Wuhan Open snooker 2024 LIVE – Shaun Murphy behind against Xiao Guodong before Judd Trump takes on Chris Wakelin

Xiao gets down to the pink and that is enough to seal an outstanding 5-1 victory over Shaun Murphy and book a place in the semi-finals of this year’s Wuhan Open.

Murphy connects but he leaves the yellow on for Xiao into the green pocket and he dispatches it. Xiao can pot the green to surely wrap this tie up.

Murphy puts Xiao back in to take on this shot with the cue ball now under the top cushion and the yellow towards baulk. The colours are all in the open so there is real pressure on this.

Xiao plays a superb shot to get Murphy snookered in behind the green that is close to its own pocket and the yellow tight on the left cushion close to the yellow bag. Murphy must be regretting not taking the shot on himself.

Murphy gets his third snooker of this exchange but again it’s an easy one-cushion escape for Xiao.

With the brown close to the left corner pocket Murphy gets the cue ball in behind it and this is a much more difficult snooker to escape from with the yellow in the middle of the table. He misses it by a whisker! Murphy no longer needs snookers but the saving grace for Xiao is that he hasn’t left an easy pot on.

Murphy looks to have perhaps got another snooker but again its an easy escape off the baulk cushion with the red just inches away from it.

Murphy is forced into potting the final red and will now need a snooker from the colours.

Murphy is in again and the path to a snooker in behind the black now looks much clearer for the Magician.

He takes two reds and two blacks before sending the final red down towards baulk and leaving the cue ball on the top cushion behind the black. He has his snooker but Xiao escapes off one cushion.

A grimace from Murphy as he collides with the blue but with the cue ball hampered by the brown, Xiao can’t pot the crucial red that would surely leave Murphy in his seat.

Murphy pots the red, that was left hanging over the pocket, and is able to get the black on its spot before playing safe.

Another red and a pink see Xiao get over the winning line in this match barring snookers from Murphy. This has been really impressive from Xiao to hold his nerve and respond after Murphy’s century that threatened some sort of comeback.

Xiao can’t find another red meaning Murphy carries on but with the four remaining reds bunched together on the top cushion this is a tall order for the magician.

With the black close to the right middle pocket, Xiao is working around the pink and establishes himself a 55 point lead with 67 left on. The reds are starting to get awkward now but he needs just one more with a colour to get to snookers required.

Murphy catches the blue as he looks to escape off three or four cushions and there is an easy starter for Xiao. There are three or four loose reds that if he can take will see the Chinese player get close to the finishing line.

It’s a delightful response from Xiao though as he glances the red after playing off two cushions and gets the cue ball back to baulk. It’s a really strong safety exchange as Murphy gets him back under the baulk cushion.

The tactical back and forth goes on for some time before Xiao finds a thin cut after Murphy had much of the table covered with a tidy safety in behind the green. Xiao is then able to get the Englishman tucked right up behind the green. Advantage to the world number 29.

A fabulous shot in and out of baulk from the blue sees him cannon a red on the top cushion over the corner pocket to keep the break going.

Moments later and it’s a bizaare shot from the Chinese player as he rolls a red in, with no obvious way it was going to see him land on a colour with the black and pink still tied up. He plays a telling safety shot though to which Murphy replies with a fairly good one of his own.

Moments later and Xiao can get his hand on the table for another long red and he makes no mistakes this time as he swings the white back towards baulk. With the black and pink fairly tied up this is by no means a clear-cut chance.

It’s Murphy who gets the sixth frame underway after that fabulous break of 112. He will be hoping for much of the same in this one if he is to stay in this match.

A poor break-off though leaves Xiao an early chance and he dispatches the long red into the right corner pocket. His second red is from mid-distance though and it rattles the jaws – he didn’t look like missing those before the interval. No pot on for Murphy though.

Long Zehuang gets over the disappointment of missing the final black in the third to take a 3-1 lead over Jack Lisowski heading into the mid-session interval. Work to do for Lisowski as the much-spoken of wait for a ranking title goes on.

That break in play feels significant as Murphy gets his first frame on the board to stop the rut with an impressive century break of his own of 112. He needs another four on the bounce though to avoid defeat so a long way to go for the Magician to salvage something here.

Murphy lands low on the blue but plays a fabulous shot in and out of baulk to collide into the remaining reds and set himself up to seal this fifth frame. A red and a black later and Murphy has a frame on the board barring snookers.

Murphy is quickly left with an awkward red, hampered by another, but he plays it nicely to flick back off the bunch and up to the top side of the blue.

This is impressive stuff from Murphy who looks to be cuing fairly freely despite his lack of table time up to now. Before this frame he had scored just 21 points.

Murphy does knock in an excellent long red though on his next attempt allowing him to tuck Xiao in behind the green. Xiao’s escape efforts go wrong and Murphy has a chance now to put his stamp on this match.

Xiao gets things underway once again following the interval and he will be hoping that break in play doesn’t put him off his rhytym as he looks for just one more frame for victory.

Murphy goes close from a long red but it’s still not happening for him just yet. He really has been frozen out so far.

As the third frame went down to the final black, Long Zehuang caught the near jaw while using the rest and he left it hanging over the pocket for a grateful Jack Lisowski to tuck away for his first frame. 2-1 rather than 3-0 feels really significant for the Jackpot.

What a shame! No fourth century as Xiao misses a tricky red down the right cushion but it’s a break of 75 to see the Chinese player take a 4-0 lead into the interval after just over an hour. It really has been world class from Xiao – I can’t remember many better four-frame bursts. Does Murphy has an answer? He is just one frame from defeat now.

After some really tidy and intricate positional shots Xiao is once again on the brink of taking another frame. This really is phenomenal stuff from the Chinese player.

A surprisingly loose positional shot though complicates things as he has a 59 lead with 75 on the table. He gets the long stuff out to make the red into the left corner pocket and a thin black takes him to 67 ahead with 67 on. He manufactures an excellent plant leave Murphy needing snookers.

Murphy looks to play the containing safety shot but doesn’t get the cue ball tight to the top cushion and Xiao plays a fabulous shot as he makes the pot into the left centre while nudging the black into a potable position for the same pocket.

Xiao lets the cue ball run on slightly too far for an easy red which would free the black spot but he has another one which sends the cue ball towards baulk. A few shots later and he has the chance to nudge that red away from the black spot, turning this into a much better chance now for a four frame lead.

Murphy is up to break in this final frame before the interval and it’s a good one tight to the baulk cushion but it’s a nice response from the Chinese player. A few shots later and Xiao goes in off once again into the green pocket after attempting a shot to nothing into the right corner pocket.

But with the pink and black tied up, Murphy sees no value in taking a pot on and plays safe. The resulting safety shot from Xiao is the more telling one though and Murphy is in a spot of bother here tight to the baulk cushion with the green and blue blocking potential routes down the table.

Long Zehuang has taken a 2-0 lead against Jack Liswoski, who is in first in the third frame.

With some handy flicks along the way, Xiao makes his third century of the match with a total clearance of 125 and with less than an hour played its 3-0 to the world number 29. This really is world class from the Chinese player – you can’t play much better than this.

Murphy, who has been a complete spectator so far, taps his leg once again in appreciation at the century mark before offering a full round of applause upon the total clearance.

Xiao continues to pick off the reds in a confident and assured manner and before you know it he has the finishing line of this third frame in sight. A comfortable black leaves Murphy requiring snookers.

Xiao does well to flick off the bunch to land high on the blue allowing him to split the pack on his next hot. It’s a good shot but he is not perfect on his next red and needs the rest.

He lands tight to the cushion for next red but some nice cuing sees him land on a red on the pink spot and he is back in prime position.

Xiao gets this third frame underway and will be looking to ensure a lead heading into the mid-session interval. Murphy has an immediate chance with a long red but he catches it thick. That was one you would expect a fully-firing Murphy to make.

Xiao can capitalise with a red into the right corner pocket to get off the mark and with a nice blue into the yellow bag, he is in once again.

Long Zehuang is at the table with the scores tied at 41 each. The Chinese player still leads the match 1-0.

It’s back-to-back centuries for the world number 29 as he clears the table once again with a break of 109. Really clinical start from Xiao this morning. Warning signs for Murphy who will be ruing that missed black but offers a tap of the knee for that wonderful break.

Xiao lands a little straight on a blue which stops him in his tracks slightly but he recovers well with the rest on the next shot and he needs just one more red to clinch this second frame.

In it goes and this has been excellent start from the Chinese with Murphy facing a 2-0 deficit in no time at all after making two errors in the match.

After looking confident and likely to make a good contribution, it breaks down for Murphy on 17 as a black clips the near jaw. That was a careless shot from the Magician and you could see his frustration at missing that one.

This is an excellent chance now for the Chinese player to double his advantage early on with just one awkward red.

Murphy takes his second shot of the match as he breaks off this second frame. A lengthy safety exchange is eventually concluded as Xiao sees the cue ball drop in the green pocket and Murphy punishes the mistake, taking a thin red into the right corner pocket.

Home favourite Long Zehuang has taken a one frame lead against Jack Liswoski.

With the high break of the tournament on the cards with a possible 140, Xiao takes a pink from one of the remaining reds and in turn goes on to make a 139 which equals the high break made by five other players so far this tournament. More importantly thought it’s a really confident start that sends a clear signal of intent to his opponent.

There’s nothing awkward now with three loose reds and a couple more below the pink looking like they’ll pot into the right corner pocket.

He lands low on the blue again but there is work to do this time. As he sends the cue ball between yellow and brown he loses it to the left cushion making the next pot tricky but he holds his nerve well. He landed low on the black though making the final red to secure the frame a mid-distance one but it’s in the heart of the pocket and he looks to have this first frame wrapped up.

It’s a confident start from the 35-year-old who continues to pick off reds and blacks. He leaves himself slightly low on a red just below the bunch allowing him to screw off the pack to release another handful.

Xiao lands on the wrong side of the blue but Murphy’s earlier missed red that travelled down to baulk means there is no issue.

Murphy has the first sighter of a long red from Xiao’s break but he catches it thin and the Chinese player has an early chance now.

He sinks the first red into the right corner pocket with the rest and is now plum on the black. Down it goes and this is a great early chance.

It’s Xiao Guodong who kicks things off in this quarter-final tie.

A reminder that, as in the last 16, these quarter-final ties will be best of nine so it’s a race to five.

The players are about to be brought out for this morning’s session so we are just moments away from getting underway.

Judd Trump, who will be in action later this afternoon, had a moment of panic in his last 16 tie yesterday as he returned from the mid-session interval to realise he was about to break off with someone else’s cue.

Our attention this morning will be with Shaun Murphy who takes on Xiao Guodong for a place in the semi-final. The pair’s last meeting was at another quarter-final stage as Murphy beat the Chinese player 6-2 in the Saudi Arabia Masters earlier this season.

The Magician has had a tricky route to the last eight this week coming through tests with Anthony Hamilton and Noppon Saengkham before being taken to a decider by Ali Carter. The world number eight is looking to reach his third semi-final of the season after being beaten by Judd Trump in both the last four in Saudi Arabia and the final of the Shanghai Masters.

Murphy’s opponent this morning has found an impressive run of form this week, taking down world champion Kyren Wilson in a tie that went down to the final pink of the decider before dispatching Barry Hawkins 5-2. At stake is a meeting with either Jack Lisowski or Zehuang Long who face off in this morning’s other match.

• Jack Lisowski v Long Zehuang
• Shaun Murphy v Xiao Guodong

• Judd Trump v Chris Wakelin
• Zhang Anda v Si Jiahui