Murphy in danger of early exit

Former world champion Shaun Murphy faces an uphill task to avoid an early exit from the Maplin UK Championship in York.

The 24-year-old, who won the sport’s most prestigious title last year, ended the opening session of his first match in the tournament trailing 6-2 to Alan McManus.

Despite insisting he had been producing similar form in practice to the standard he achieved before his 2005 Crucible triumph, there was no sign today of Murphy being at his peak.

He knocked in only one half-century break, a 53 in frame two and, while McManus’ highest contribution was a mere 68, the Scot got the better of some scrappy frames to build a significant lead.

McManus, out of the world’s top 16 for the first time since 1992, is enjoying an encouraging start to the season, having reached the semi-finals of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix in October.

The 35-year-old began his York campaign with a comfortable win on Tuesday and needs only three more frames when the match resumes tonight to beat Murphy in their first-ever meeting.

There was more good news for the Scottish contingent as John Higgins turned around a 3-1 deficit to move 5-3 ahead of Mark King.

Australia’s Neil Robertson, who won the Grand Prix in Aberdeen, was level at 4-4 with Finland’s Robin Hull in the only other match of the morning session.