Trailing 6-2 after the first session, 8-2 after another couple of frames, Shaun Murphy could have been forgiven for thinking about his flight home but incredibly he was able to win the next seven frames to stun 2008 champion and local favourite Ding Junhui to win the Wuxi Classic. Click below for more…
Following their impressive semi-final performances in which they dismissed both Mark Allen and Tian Pengfei for the loss of just one frame between them, Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui both came into this re-match of their Crucible clash in fine form. It was the Wuxi native Ding Junhui who made the early running however, four 60+ breaks seeing him surge into a 6-2 lead at the end of the first session, despite a century break of 101 for the 2005 world champion.
Resuming for the evening session, Shaun gave himself a further mountain to climb as he lost the first two frames to fall further behind at 8-2, surely out of contention for the title.
Surely not as it would turn out as Shaun embarked on a seven frame winning spree, hammering in breaks of 78, 92, 59, 58, 96 and finally 86 to leave Ding reeling and lift the title. It is not the first time that Murphy has completed a comeback like this, his effort from 11-5 down against Matthew Stevens at the Crucible a few years ago springs to mind, but this cannot be far behind that having had to contend with what I imagine must have been a partisan crowd.
Ding meanwhile will be disappointed to have lost out in this manner, particularly having lost out in the final a year ago to Mark Allen when he was on the receiving end of a 6-0 beating. On paper though it would appear as though Shaun gave him little opportunity with what was a break-building masterclass.