Murphy Ends Ding Hopes

27 Mar 2008 16:31:00
The exciting contest came down to the last few balls. Ding, trailing 42-61, had a chance to clear from the final green, but failed to gain perfect position on the brown then missed a tough pot to a centre pocket.
As the brown rebounded and rolled towards a baulk corner, Ding must have had a flash-back to his match against Stuart Bingham at the same stage of this tournament three years ago, when he fluked the brown and went on to win the tournament.
But this time, the brown finished hanging over the jaws, giving Murphy an easy chance to clear to the pink for victory and a quarter-final place against Mark Allen.
Earlier, Malta Cup champion Murphy started strongly with breaks of 71 and 111 to go 2-0 up. Ding came back to win four of the next six frames with a top run of 72.
But the 20-year-old and his legions of supporters were left disappointed. "I played ok but I had some bad luck in the last frame," said Ding, who has never beaten Murphy. "The pressure on me was huge. I will go back to the UK to prepare for the Crucible, because there is less attention on me there.
"I had chances and we both made mistakes. I‘m staisfied with winning my first match here, so losing tonight doesn‘t matter too much."
World No 3 Murphy said: "I‘m delighted. I made some nice breaks and played some good safety. I‘m sure the match was great entertainment for anyone watching.
"We both had some good and bad luck throughout the match, but Ding was unlucky in the last frame to leave the brown over the pocket. It couldn‘t have finished in a better place for me.
"It was a massive advantage for me that I‘ve never lost to Ding, though he‘s a great player and I‘m sure he‘ll beat me one day. His biggest disadvantage is the expectation. He‘s got the weight of a nation on him and it must be difficult."
Allen reached his second ranking quarter-final with a 5-3 win over Ali Carter. Allen was a semi-finalist at the Northern Ireland Trophy earlier this season and is one win away from matching that performance.
Breaks of 64 and 135 put the Ulsterman 2-0 up. Carter got back to 2-2 with 59 and 54 and led 66-0 in the next after a 58, but Allen hit back to steal it 67-66.
Carter won the sixth on the black with a 45 clearance and led 46-0 in the seventh, but once again Allen pinched it with a 59. A run of 75 in frame eight sealed a superb win for the former World Amateur Champion.
"I didn‘t miss many balls and I took my chances," said Allen. "Ali had a bit of bad luck here and there and I took advantage.
"My main aim now is to get into the top 16, then after that I can push on and maybe win a few titles. I will face a very tough opponent next. I am confident but also realistic. This may not be my year to win this tournament but hopefully in the future I can win it."
Mark Selby continued his excellent recent form with a 5-3 win over Marco Fu. That set up a clash with John Higgins and a rematch of the Crucible final. They have also met twice in ranking events this season - Selby winning both. The Leicester player made breaks of 70, 63 and 127 to see off Hong Kong‘s Fu.
Ryan Day set up an all-Welsh quarter-final with Mark Williams by beating Ken Doherty 5-3.
Doherty made a 136 in coming from 3-1 down to 3-3, but Pontycymmer‘s Day recovered to win the last two frames with 71 and 54.
"Mark and I are both in good form so it should be a good battle," said Day, looking ahead to his meeting with Williams.