Shaun Murphy holds off Kyren Wilson fightback to win second Masters title
Four century breaks in the final helped Shaun Murphy add this Masters crown to his 2015 success.
Shaun Murphy celebrated Masters success for a second time after a superb 10-7 victory over Kyren Wilson in Sunday’s thrilling final at Alexandra Palace.
Murphy had been irresistible all week and produced only the sixth maximum break in the tournament’s history in his semi-final win over Mark Allen.
A day later it was followed by four more centuries in a high-quality and tense final, in which Wilson fought back from a four-frame deficit to trail 8-7 before Murphy held his nerve as he deservedly triumphed 10 years after his maiden Masters crown.
The start of the final was disrupted by a wasp inside the north London venue, with Murphy again the target as he had been earlier this week.
It failed to put off the 2015 champion as he demonstrated his confidence with a break of 94 to take the opening frame.
The second frame was more cagey, but Murphy moved 2-0 up before Wilson got off the mark with his own half-century break.
Crucially, Murphy edged the next two frames to open up a healthy lead before Wilson reduced the deficit with a 53 break.
The afternoon session belonged to Murphy, though, who produced a superb 134 clearance for the first century of the final.
It was followed by another as an excellent break of 116 allowed Murphy to dream with a 6-2 lead at the halfway point.
After Murphy required the rest to pot a tough red, he never looked back and completed his third century of the final with a scintillating 125.
It should have been followed by Wilson’s first three-figure break of the contest, but he fell short on 95, although it brought the score back to 7-4.
Tension was high at the start of the 12th frame and Wilson appeared in the ascendancy until he failed to pot a simple black.
It opened the door to Murphy, who rattled off 66 to take another step toward a second Masters title.
Wilson was in now-or-never territory and, after an exchange of safety shots, made his chance count with a 78 break to further chip away at Murphy’s advantage.
That increased when Wilson upped the ante and, with Murphy not able to stay at the table for long, a 65 break closed the score to 8-7.
At the start of frame 16 Murphy had gone almost half-an-hour without potting a ball and, while that soon changed, Wilson was afforded another opportunity but had to be warned a third consecutive missed red would see him forfeit the frame.
Wilson made his next red during a short stay as a missed long red brought Murphy back and he took his time before a 55-break moved him one frame from glory.
A re-rack was required before what proved the final frame of the night as, after several safety shots, Murphy landed a superb red.
It proved enough as he closed out victory in style with one final break of exactly 100 to lift the Paul Hunter Trophy for a second time.
“This is right up there. The win here in 15 was big to cement my triple crown, but this is big if not bigger. The 147 was one of the biggest moments of my life.
“If I am honest I thought my time was gone. I’ve teamed up with Peter and he was very strong, helped me rediscover that self-belief and helped remind me I used to be quite good at this. There is still a bit of life in old dog yet.”
