Murphy dumps World Champion Higgins out of Premier League - 28/11/2009

JOHN HIGGINS 3-5 SHAUN MURPHY
Higgins' scores first
80-35 (Higgins 61), 4-80 (Murphy 40, 40), 96-0 (Higgins 96), 0-110 (Murphy 110), 34-77 (Murphy 44), 61-71 (Higgins 45, Murphy 65), 67-1, 40-75 (Murphy 41)

WORLD Champion John Higgins has been eliminated from the 2009 PartyCasino.com Premier League snooker competition. Higgins slumped to a shock 5-3 defeat against Shaun Murphy, who will now meet either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Judd Trump in tomorrow's final.

It completes a remarkable turnaround for Murphy as he lost his opening two matches of the competition and only scraped into the semi-finals by winning one more frame than Stephen Hendry.

Murphy said: "I'm very pleased after I propped up the league for the first few weeks, I wasn't really taking part and was bottom so I can't believe I'm in the final. I lost three league matches and wouldn't have picked that way. John qualified with weeks to go and that would've been a much more casual way of getting through. But there's no prize if you finish first or fourth in the table.

"I thought the first five or six frames were of a very high standard and it was one-chance snooker and I think we put on a good show. It's great to play in front of packed crowds week in, week out and that's what we want to be doing and playing well. We were tense and John and I were feeling the pressure but it means so much to me to make the final."

The first semi-final was a repeat of the 2009 World Championship final as John Higgins, who won on that occasion, met Shaun Murphy. Higgins also triumphed 4-2 in the league match between the two players as they were looking to claim a spot in the final.

Both men had chances to claim the opener before Higgins moved 1-0 ahead. Murphy missed a long red with his first shot of the match and later missed a similar shot. Higgins capitalised with a break of 61 but failed to pot a red with the rest in a shot that would have won him the frame. However, it did not matter as a third missed red from Murphy led to the Scot moving 1-0 ahead.

But Higgins' advantage did not last long as to breaks of 40 in the second from Murphy brought him level. Murphy's first break saw five reds followed by five blacks but any hint of a maximum 147 break ended when he ran out of position.

Higgins then had a chance of a maximum in the third frame of the evening at the Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton on Sea, Norfolk. Higgins successfully potted 12 reds and 12 blacks but faultered on a straight-forward 13th red, although his break of 96 ensured he had won the frame. It also meant that there still had not been a 147 break since the introduction of the 25-second shot clock.

It was a top quality encounter with players only needing one visit to the table to win the frame. Murphy then compiled the highest break of the match with a score of 110 to level the game again at 2-2.

Murphy moved into the lead for the first time when he won the fifth frame. A break of 44 helped him move 37 ahead when he left the last red hanging over the jaws of the right baulk pocket. However, Higgins, attempting to play safe, misjudges his effort as he wanted to get off the side cushion in behind the black. But it went completely wrong as he potted the cue ball in the middle pocket and the frame was Murphy's.

A potential turning point came in the sixth frame when Murphy stole the frame to extend his lead. Higgins looked well on course to make it 3-3 but his break ended on 45 and Murphy, after a good plant set him off, made 65 and finished on the black to win the frame by ten points.

Murphy, although trailing by 52 points in the seventh, had a golden opportunity to win the match as the reds were out in the open, although a missed pot on the black could prove crucial. Higgins did the rest to win his first frame in four and make the score 3-4.

The eighth frame was a nervous affair and the longest of the match as Murphy, after a fine plant to start, made 41 and could see the finish line in sight. But Murphy missed a match-winning brown ball, although it did not matter as he came on top from a lengthy safety battle to reach tomorrow's final.