MURPHY MAKES 147 AND REACHES FINAL

Shaun Murphy raised the roof at Alexandra Palace with a 6-3 victory over Mark Allen, making a 147 on his way to the final of the Masters.

Murphy is into the final in London for the third time, having lost to Neil Robertson in 2012 and won his sole Masters title in 2015. The 42-year-old will meet Judd Trump or Kyren Wilson over 19 frames on Sunday, with the Paul Hunter Trophy and £350,000 top prize at stake. World number seven Murphy will be aiming for his fourth Triple Crown success, having landed the World Championship in 2005 and the UK Championship in 2008.

After a slow start against Allen, losing the first two frames, he played fantastic snooker to win six of the next seven, undoubtedly highlighted by his historic 147in frame six as he became only the fifth player in the 50-year history of the Masters to make a maximum.  

Murphy has come close to silverware already this season, notably losing to Trump in both the final of the Shanghai Masters and the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. He will be fiercely determined to go all the way tomorrow and become the 12th player to win the Masters on multiple occasions.

Allen dominated the first two frames then Murphy took the third - without either player making a break over 50. Early in frame four, Murphy crunched in a long red to set up a break of 83 for 2-2. After the interval, Murphy made a 54 in taking frame five to go ahead, before lighting up the arena with his marvellous 147.

Having lost four frames in a row, Allen needed a foothold, and he got it in the seventh, coming from 30-0 down to make a 54 clearance, though his heart skipped a beat when he rolled the final brown along a baulk cushion and it stopped in the jaws of the pocket before toppling in. But Murphy quickly regained the initiative as a run of 72 made it 5-3.

Frame nine lasted 33 minutes as Allen missed chances to close the gap, and the Northern Irishman eventually made a safety error on the final green which let Murphy in to clear the table and reach his tenth Triple Crown final.

"The 147 was an incredible moment, one of the highlights of my snooker life since I was eight years old," said Murphy. "I had always wanted to make a maximum in a Triple Crown event and had never really come close until the other day. This time I was thinking 'don't mess it up again!' The roar when the last black went in was the loudest I have ever heard in a snooker arena. The crowds this week have been unbelievable. 

"It was a great match played in a great spirt and I'm thrilled to be in the final. Mark is such a tough player to beat, he's by far a stronger tactical player than me so I knew I had to shake it up a bit and go for my shots. I had a bit of luck at the right time especially in the last frame.

"To face either the World Champion or world number one in the final - that's how it should be at the Masters. To win the trophy again would be a dream because the last ten years for me has been a barren spell in terms of Triple Crowns. Certain other players are in these finals all the time, for me it's more of an occasion. There's no point coming this far without winning."

Allen, who won this event in 2018, said: "Once Shaun got to 73 on the 147 I was cheering him on because it's a very special thing to do, in front of this crowd. He held himself together really well. I was disappointed not to play my best, especially not to make it 5-4 because that would have been 'game on'. There were just too many loose shots."