Shaun Murphy beats Ding Junhui in UK Championship thriller

Three-time champion Ding Junhui took on 2008 winner Shaun Murphy, with Barry Hawkins’ reward for his victory against defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan a last 16 tie with David Gilbert.

Both matches went down to a final-frame decider before both Murphy and Gilbert progressed 6-5.

Murphy paid the price for a small mistake early on, opening the door for Ding to take the first frame with a 129 break. The Magician almost let the second frame slip too after conceding two fouls but managed to get over the line to square up the match.

He took the third frame to nudge ahead for the first time, but again Ding hit back to level the match 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

It was similarly nip and tuck on table two between Hawkins and Gilbert, despite the former having opened the match with a stunning 144 break.

Once play resumed, Ding nudged back ahead for the first time since the end of the first frame, but Murphy pinched the sixth frame, a punch in the air evidencing his delight amid a below-par performance.

He again looked to have played himself into trouble in the seventh frame, but the pendulum swung in his favour after Ding blasted the blue to the middle off the table. Things were smoother sailing in the next, a superb 135 break handing him the eighth.

Ding Junhui fought back to force a deciding frame, but a mistake opened the door for Murphy to book his quarter-final spot. (Image: PA) Two century breaks from Ding set up a final-frame decider, but after Murphy had carved out a 65 break with 75 remaining on the table, a poor shot opened the door for the Englishman to seal his place in the quarter-finals.

“When you miss the balls that I missed and make the mistakes that I made, you don’t actually deserve to win,” Murphy told the BBC.

“I feel a bit silly with the celebration at the end but it was just emotional, it just comes out. I tried so hard; I couldn’t give any more.

“But if you make those mistakes, you don’t deserve to win, and the game doesn’t forgive you. I’m old enough to know that and yet I still made the mistakes!”

A switch seemed to flick ahead of the deciding frame, Murphy holding his nerve and taking the long pot offered up to edge the match.

“At 5-3 we worked hard for a safety, and when I got my chance, I just ran to the table like an inexperienced rookie all excitable like ‘do it now’,” he explained. “I had no composure at all.

“My old manager used to say that if you lose your composure, you lose everything. Before I knew it, it was my turn to sit down again and I completely messed up, and then again at 5-4.

“Then a survival instinct kicks in at five each saying, ‘do it now’. You can tell I’m delighted.”