Championship League: Shaun Murphy shows class to power through in Milton Keynes

ByEurosport

Updated 16/09/2020 at 20:38 GMT

Shaun Murphy won all three matches to reach the last-32 group stage of the Championship League. The 2005 world champion showed glimpses of his best form.

Shaun Murphy | Snooker | ESP Player Feature

Image credit: Getty Images

Boasting an overall average shot time of under 20 seconds, Murphy was not in the mood for a long, languid night as he won Group 8 with two 3-0 wins over rookie Peter Devlin and Jimmy White respectively and a 3-1 victory against Martin O'Donnell in his final match of the section.

Murphy coasted through his match against White in under 45 minutes courtesy of breaks of 111, 70 and 76 before winning the final three frames for a 3-1 success against O'Donnell, who needed the three points to edge out Murphy as group winner.

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“I am pleased that my game seemed to be there today, I hit some really nice shots among some bad ones and I am through to the next phase,” said Murphy, who was battling a limp as well as the balls.

“I suffer from Achilles tendonitis and it’s something which has flared up since lockdown. When it comes it is very, very sore and there’s not much I can do about it.

"I felt it flare up when I was practicing yesterday and tried to ice it as much as I could. It’s painful but we are so fortunate in these times to still have tournaments to come to that you have to just keep pushing on.

Former Indian Open winner Matthew Selt claimed victory in Group 7 with a 3-1 win over Gao Yang, a 3-1 win over Si Jiahui and a 2-2 draw with Ben Woollaston.