Liang beats Murphy to reach final

Murphy said Liang would have to tighten up his game in the final

Liang Wenbo took advantage of Shaun Murphy's scrappy play to beat the Englishman 6-5 and secure a place in the final of the Shanghai Masters.

Murphy had dropped just one frame on his way to the semi-final but was out of sorts in a generally poor match.

A 102 break in the second frame put Liang 2-0 up but that was as good as the scoring would get from either man.

But Liang prevailed to reach his first ranking tournament final, where he will play John Higgins or Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Afterwards Murphy said it was a poor end to an otherwise good week.

"I came into the match full of confidence but I played about 60%, whereas earlier in the week I was about 90%," he said.

And he warned Liang that he would need to raise his game in the final.

"If he plays like he played against me today he will lose, but he is capable of winning if he pots more balls and plays better safety," he said.

"He beat me today but if I had played better and not missed the easy balls then I would have won.

"It was my fault I lost. He's very entertaining and fun to watch, but this is about winning, not entertaining."

Murphy defeats Fu to clinch title

Shaun Murphy clinched a dramatic 10-9 victory over Marco Fu to win the UK Championship in Telford.

Murphy had led 5-3 at the interval but his opponent from Hong Kong battled back to level at 6-6 and was within sight of the title when 9-8 in front.

But Englishman Murphy held his nerve in a tense and scrappy finish, levelling at 9-9 before clinching the decider thanks to a fluke on the pink.

Murphy, 26, adds the UK crown to the World Championship he won in 2005.

That was the worst match we've both played this tournament but that just shows the pressure we were under Shaun Murphy

He had been the more consistent of the two finalists, recording breaks of 73, 77, 87 and 99 on the way to victory, but he came up against a resilient opponent.

"It's been a while and I've never felt pressure like that," Murphy told BBC Sport.

"That was worse than the world title in 2005 because it has been such a long time since I was competing for a title.

"That was the worst match we've both played this tournament but that just goes to show the pressure we were under."

Fu, 30, said: "I never really settled and Shaun was winning frames in one visit and I wasn't really scoring enough.

"I was surprised to win nine frames because I didn't play well under pressure and Shaun did."

Winning the title was a superb achievement for Murphy, given his previous form this season.

606: DEBATE What did you think of the final?

He arrived in Telford not having won a tournament match all season but beat Martin Gould, Mark Allen, Stephen Lee and Stephen Maguire to reach the final.

His success makes him only the 10th player to have won both the UK and World crowns.

The evening session resulted in Murphy increasing his lead to 6-3 in the opening frame and after both players missed chances of match-winning breaks in the next, Fu finally potted brown, blue and pink to take it and stay in touch.

Fu cut the deficit further in the 11th frame after Murphy failed to escape a snooker on the brown and then he levelled the match after Murphy potted the cue ball after sinking a red.

Three big breaks helped Murphy win the first two frames after the mid-session interval to go 8-6 up but once again Fu hit back - making the score 8-8 after taking three chances to get out of a snooker in frame 16.

Fu finally went ahead for the first time in the match in the next frame but Murphy was not to be denied and won the last two frames to take the title and move back up to third in the world rankings, having slipped to sixth.

Fu, who began the season ranked 14th, climbs to number six.

---

Final result:

Shaun Murphy (Eng) 10-9 Marco Fu (HK)

74-38 48-56 99-0 (99) 17-103 (102) 70-4 73-0 (73) 0-143 (69, 74) 66-31 77-1 (77) 51-66 52-74 (47 59) 45-58 109-0 (54) 87-0 (87) 39-73 40-73 23-93 69-1 (69) 69-24

Telford retains UK Championship

The UK Championship will return to Telford International Centre in Shropshire for the third year running.

The championship, snooker's second-biggest ranking tournament, will be broadcast by the BBC in December.

Defending champion Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and world champion John Higgins are among 32 of the world's best players due to appear.

Telford's Adrian Gunnell, the world number 42, said: "It's terrific news that the tournament is coming back."

A delighted Crucible theatre celebrate another world title for John Higgins

John Higgins has set his sights on adding to his collection of world titles after winning his third Crucible crown with victory over Shaun Murphy.

The 33-year-old secured a crushing 18-9 win over the 2005 champion and believes he can continue to keep snooker's talented new generation at bay.

"I think I've got more titles left in me. Playing at that level, I could win one or two more world titles," he said.

"The next two or three years are going to be when I'll have my best chances."

Higgins, who has risen one place to fourth in the new world rankings, was in dominant form for the vast majority of his clash with Murphy and rarely looked in danger.

606: DEBATE Congratulations John. He will definitely be around in the next 5 years - those pundits have got it wrong!! supersammy86

In many ways, Higgins' biggest battle was to reach the final, with the Scot having to come through 95 frames just to set up the clash with Murphy.

After a comfortable 10-5 win over Michael Holt in the first round, Higgins was forced into final-frame deciders with both Jamie Cope and Mark Selby and then had to see off a fantastic fightback from Mark Allen in the semi-finals, eventually winning 17-13 having once led 13-3.

"It is going to be harder for the likes of myself and Ronnie (O'Sullivan), because the future is people like Mark Selby, Jamie Cope and Mark Allen," added Higgins, whose previous titles came in 1998 and 2007.

"My three matches against them were such a high standard, so it is going to be very tough.

Video - Higgins wins his third World title

"The only way I can get through against these young guys is to weld them to the top cushion.

"But if I've won two out of the last three (word titles), there is no reason why I shouldn't maybe go on and win some more."

Six-time world champion Steve Davis is optimistic about Higgins' potential to add to his title collection - and for the future of a sport that O'Sullivan recently described as "dying".

"The standard is going to get higher and higher, but John's 'B' game is so good that I think he will be around for a lot longer to come," said the 51-year-old.

"Everyone is going to have to raise the bar, and who knows what is going to happen when the Chinese players start to come through?

All the great names - every single one of them - have played in a final and been beaten here Runner-up Shaun Murphy

"Snooker has been through the doldrums, as low as it is ever going to get. But I think it has hit its bottom and now all of a sudden I think you are going to see an explosion again."

Meanwhile, Murphy said he would not be too disheartened by his heavy defeat in the final.

"All the great names - every single one of them - have played in a final and been beaten here," said Murphy, who remains at number three in the world rankings behind O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire.

"So I now know how they felt, and if it inspired them to go and be better players then it will inspire me to go on and be better.

"It's been a really fun event for me. It's a 17-day tournament and 15-and-a-half of those days have been fantastic for me.

"The last day-and-a-half has been not that great and it's something I hope to forget."

Allen cruises to first pro title

Mark Allen hammered Ding Junhui 6-0 in the final of the Wuzhou International Jiangsu Classic in China on Sunday to secure his first professional title.

The 23-year-old from Antrim blazed into a commanding 3-0 lead with breaks of 64, 71 and 74.

He took the fourth and fifth frames on the colours and finished with a 58 to win the 12-man invitation event.

"Although it's not a ranking event, it still means a lot to me to get my first professional title," said Allen.

The World Championship semi-finalist was in blistering form as he brushed aside the disappointingly weak challenge of defending champion Ding at the Wuxi Stadium in Beijing.

Allen was on the verge of elimination at the group stage when he lost two of his first three matches, 2-0 to Ryan Day and 2-1 against Ding.

But 2-0 wins over Peter Ebdon, Li Hang and Stephen Hendry saw him into the semi-finals by virtue of winning a single frame more than Day.

Allen made the decider after defeating Shaun Murphy 5-2 on Saturday.

"I was looking at flights home after the early defeats," admitted Allen.

I've shown that I can handle myself on the big stage and I hope that this title is the start of things to come. Mark Allen

"But I managed to win my last two games 2-0 and a few other results went my way.

"Anything extra would be a bonus and I had a feeling that the tournament was meant to be mine.

"I played well in the second half of the semi-final against Shaun Murphy and carried that into the final."

"It's been a long season and I came here very sharp, especially after the confidence I got by getting to the semi-finals at Sheffield.

"Having won this tournament, I'll go into next season feeling very good.

"I've shown that I can handle myself on the big stage and I hope that this title is the start of things to come."

Mark Selby made a 147 break earlier in the tournament but still lost his group match against Joe Perry.

It is a first maximum in competition for the Leicester cueman.

World Snooker 2009

John Higgins has set his sights on adding to his collection of world titles after winning his third Crucible crown with victory over Shaun Murphy.

The 33-year-old secured a crushing 18-9 win over the 2005 champion and believes he can continue to keep snooker's talented new generation at bay.

"I think I've got more titles left in me. Playing at that level, I could win one or two more world titles," he said.

"The next two or three years are going to be when I'll have my best chances."

Higgins, who has risen one place to fourth in the new world rankings, was in dominant form for the vast majority of his clash with Murphy and rarely looked in danger.

606: DEBATE Congratulations John. He will definitely be around in the next 5 years - those pundits have got it wrong!! supersammy86

In many ways, Higgins' biggest battle was to reach the final, with the Scot having to come through 95 frames just to set up the clash with Murphy.

After a comfortable 10-5 win over Michael Holt in the first round, Higgins was forced into final-frame deciders with both Jamie Cope and Mark Selby and then had to see off a fantastic fightback from Mark Allen in the semi-finals, eventually winning 17-13 having once led 13-3.

"It is going to be harder for the likes of myself and Ronnie (O'Sullivan), because the future is people like Mark Selby, Jamie Cope and Mark Allen," added Higgins, whose previous titles came in 1998 and 2007.

"My three matches against them were such a high standard, so it is going to be very tough.

Video - Higgins wins his third World title

"The only way I can get through against these young guys is to weld them to the top cushion.

"But if I've won two out of the last three (word titles), there is no reason why I shouldn't maybe go on and win some more."

Six-time world champion Steve Davis is optimistic about Higgins' potential to add to his title collection - and for the future of a sport that O'Sullivan recently described as "dying".

"The standard is going to get higher and higher, but John's 'B' game is so good that I think he will be around for a lot longer to come," said the 51-year-old.

"Everyone is going to have to raise the bar, and who knows what is going to happen when the Chinese players start to come through?

All the great names - every single one of them - have played in a final and been beaten here Runner-up Shaun Murphy

"Snooker has been through the doldrums, as low as it is ever going to get. But I think it has hit its bottom and now all of a sudden I think you are going to see an explosion again."

Meanwhile, Murphy said he would not be too disheartened by his heavy defeat in the final.

"All the great names - every single one of them - have played in a final and been beaten here," said Murphy, who remains at number three in the world rankings behind O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire.

"So I now know how they felt, and if it inspired them to go and be better players then it will inspire me to go on and be better.

"It's been a really fun event for me. It's a 17-day tournament and 15-and-a-half of those days have been fantastic for me.

"The last day-and-a-half has been not that great and it's something I hope to forget."