Murphy progresses to quarter-finals

Shaun Murphy came through his first test at the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals as he saw off Ricky Walden’s challenge in Dublin.

The 2005 world champion, who topped the inaugural PTC order of merit this season, beat Walden 4-2.

Walden briefly threatened to take the match to a deciding frame before he lost a safety exchange, allowing Murphy to set up a quarter-final against either Stephen Lee or Mark Davis on Saturday.

Martin Gould was an easy 4-0 winner against Jamie Jones earlier in the day, and will face Judd Trump in the second round.

The Pinner potter was relieved to be reunited with a cue he feared he had seen the last of following his arrival in Dublin.

Gould has used the same cue for 15 years, but explained that it went missing en route to this week’s event.

However it eventually turned up, having apparently been mislaid by airport staff, and Gould made good use of it against Jones, making a best break of 106.

“Without it I would’ve had to borrow one of the cues here like a club cue and tried that,” Gould said on worldsnooker.com.

“It would’ve affected me as I wouldn’t have had much time to use something completely different to what I’m used to.

“It wouldn’t have just been this tournament as I’ve qualified for the China Open, have the Championship League next week and also qualified for the World Championship so it would’ve completely ruined my last part of the season.”

Andrew Higginson set up a last-16 tussle with Mark Selby after crushing 19-year-old Jack Lisowski 4-1.

Higginson, who made a break of 128 in the opening frame, is relishing his clash with the world number four.

He said: “I’ve beaten Mark a couple of times but he’s also given me a couple of good hidings. He’s one of the best players in the world but who knows, I might make a game of it.”